Gimson Robotics

[Ellis]

That's a good point... we're breaking drill gearboxes constantly at the moment, with the three pins loosening on the second stage, often rounding those three metal gears, damaging the other plate and burning the motor out as they go. 12v motors at 18v. Lots of people overvolt the GR01s, and I haven't heard any horror stories. Why is that? Are the innards of these the same as standard drills? We'd upgrade to Gimsons if we could guarantee we wouldn't just strip these gearboxes too.

Of course, I can completely understand that putting 18v through a motor setup designed for 12v is a risk the person buying is responsible for. I just like the power between breakages.

Why do we eat gears (we more or less completely stripped 4 metal gears in one go when Jarvis and I were playing in the street) so much when 18v has been put through 12v drills without problems for ages?

Sorry for going off topic.

[widow_twanky]

That's a good point... we're breaking drill gearboxes constantly at the moment, with the three pins loosening on the second stage, often rounding those three metal gears, damaging the other plate and burning the motor out as they go. 12v motors at 18v. Lots of people overvolt the GR01s, and I haven't heard any horror stories. Why is that? Are the innards of these the same as standard drills? We'd upgrade to Gimsons if we could guarantee we wouldn't just strip these gearboxes too.

Of course, I can completely understand that putting 18v through a motor setup designed for 12v is a risk the person buying is responsible for. I just like the power between breakages.

Why do we eat gears (we more or less completely stripped 4 metal gears in one go when Jarvis and I were playing in the street) so much when 18v has been put through 12v drills without problems for ages?

Sorry for going off topic.

It's quite possibly just the stress you're putting through the gearboxes, that depends on the design of the robot. We had that issue with Boom. A drill would last about two fights which wasn't good. Sometime the casing would rip itself apart, sometimes the gears would strip.

We reduced this by using o rings on the drills instead of grub screws but didn't cure it completely. Would tell you how the Gimsons perform if i hadn't blown the whole thing up at Barnsley this year by accidentally putting two wires together which should never have been put together.

They are a darn sight better built than drills though.

[typhoon_driver]

Think I'll need to start charging you consultancy fees in the future Ewan

[ewan]

No doubt the reason you're getting through so many drills Ellis is you're simply taking them to the limits of reasonable voltage and wheel size combination, there could however be the added element of flex in the gearbox adding to the problem. If a planetary gearbox is taken out of alignment (with the shaft twisting relative to the ring gear) then some of the planet gears will be periodically under greater stress than the others. In this regard it's good to have a rigid gearbox structure in order to maintain alignment and distribute the load more evenly, something which the GR01 seems to have been able to do (judging by the lack of reports of stripped gears). The same applies for the carrier plate pins, if alignment is maintained they should be less likely to loosen.

There's an additional component of quality of manufacture which is hard to put any figures to. As I've mentioned some time before the components for the GR01/2 come from a factory manufacturing drills for the American market which retail for $30-40 a piece. It's possible that they have better quality control at such prices over £10 European retailed drills, I haven't come across any badly formed or loose-pin parts so far at least.

It will be interesting to see whether there's any problems at all with gears stripping on the 24:1 versions which feature the same size of gear on the output stage which will of course be under a smaller torque load.

All this said though combat robots are such a volatile environment that you can never be sure of any completely foolproof combinations, hence why a full range of spare gears and carrier plates will be available for the GR02!

[ewan]

Most accessories for the GR02 are now online, including gear carriers, planet gears and pinions. The motor itself will be going online later this coming week.

[ewan]

Too keep you all updated: The one thing holding back the GR02 launch at the moment is (oddly) the weather. I'm having to wait for some decent sunlight for picture-taking, although I have just started to repair an old lighting rig as well so it'll be whichever comes good first!

[ewan]

Pictures have now been taken and a release date has been set:

[ewan]

As promised: (click through for the product page)





Although not detailed on the product page, if you purchase a GR02 any time in the next couple of weeks then you will qualify for a discount on the external support bearing kit when it is released. You will be able to purchase them for £2.80 rather than the usual £5.20 each, and with free postage.

If you've any questions about the product or ordering please use the contact form here.

[shakesc]

Looking good and the price seems reasonable, I shall be buying

I was looking at the high torque motors as well - just wondered if anyone had used those as a weapon motor?

[craig_colliass]

I would stick with the new 36:1 18V motor GR2 as it has a torque of 18.1Nm, the high torque motor has a torque of 11.9Nm. Also the shaft diameter is 2mm bigger so less lightly to break, also better mounting options.

So in summery

They are more powerful. (over 3 times)

They have more torque.

They are stronger.

They should be easier to fit.

Oh and they are cheaper

Which one will I be using in my next Featherweight robot


The High torque motor would come into it's own if you wanted a slow speed 45-50rpm so it will have it's uses for particular situations, I don't want to slam it completely, it's a good motor but normally the GR1 and presumably the GR2 are better for most applications in the fighting robot environment.