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Custom Elevator Gearbox (FIRST Team 4201)

About the Project

​In my final year on  FIRST Robotics Team 4201, each senior was tasked with researching a way to improve our team for the upcoming season. Since I had seen how helpful they could be for other championship teams and was interested in the engineering challenge, I decided to develop custom gearboxes. The section below describes my full design process, from research to design to manufacturing. 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manufacturing
As one of the few students on the team trained to use the CNC mill, I was also in charge of manufacturing the gearbox plates. I milled the pieces out of 1/8 inch thick pieces of aluminum, and added a truss design to reduce weight (and increase cool factor). I used MasterCam X7 to program the G code for the mill.

Results

My elevator gearbox performed very well in competition, and was one of the few components to never experience any failures or require maintenance during competition. My gearbox played a major role in our team's success at the Ventura Regional, where we were Regional Finalists and were able to qualify for the FIRST National Championship. A video of my gearbox in action can be seen below!

Research / Prototype

During the offseason, I researched custom gearbox design and learned about gear ratios, pitch diameter, and other important considerations. I was able to design and construct a prototype gearbox in the offseason using an RS550 motor from BaneBots and a combination of VexPro and AndyMark gears. The gearbox had a 12:1 ratio and was designed as one of a pair of elevator gearboxes, each of which would turn one sprocket and lift the elevator carriage up. 

Design

Once season started, I was able to apply the knowledge and skills I'd gained from offseason to designing the actual elevator gearbox for our robot. I used a motor curve spreadsheet to determine the number of motors, type of motor, and gear ratio that would meet our required maximum torque and operating speed. Based on these results, I decided to make a two CIM gearbox with a 7:1 gear ratio.

new_gearbox_assembley_2016-Feb-02_11-32-

Images

Gearbox_Assembly_5.0_real_2016-Feb-02_09
Gearbox_Assembly_5.0_real_2016-Feb-02_09
Gearbox_Assembly_image.jpg

Video

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