Untitled Document

An important component of any robot that you build is the gear box. Typically, you will have to use more than one pair of gears to achieve a desired speed, strength, or accuracy. It is important to build a good gearbox so your robot works reliably. Here are some tips to help when building a gear box.

1. Make sure there is enough support for the axles. Axles should be supported in at least 2 places. Here is an example of a poor gear box. The axles bend and the gears don't mesh very well.

Here is an example of an improved gear box design. Now the axles have more support, and the gears mesh together better. Flat plates have been added to make a square frame.

2. Don't press the gears or bushings too tightly against the beams. If there is too much friction, then the gears will not spin very well. When building a gear box, see if you can turn the gears with your hand. They should spin freely with as little resistance as possible.

3. Make sure the teeth of the gears don't mesh too tightly. Sometimes, odd gear spacings can cause the teeth to not mesh properly. If your gears make a lot of noise as they turn, that probably means the gears are meshed together too tightly.