= Gears & Gearboxes =

Goal: Learn the fundamentals and applications of gears and gearboxes

== Introduction ==
'''Why do we use gears?'''\\

The main purpose of gears is the transfer mechanical energy from one shaft to another. Gears can be used to interchange ''rotational speed'' and ''torque''. ''Rotational speed'' is the speed at which the gear and its shaft are rotating, and ''torque'' is the rotational force the gear applies. By change the ''gear ratio'', you can change the ''rotational speed'' and ''torque'' of the gears' shafts.

On our robotics team, most of the motors rotate their shafts too faster and with not enough torque for our applications. We use gears and gearboxes to exchange speed for more torque.

Gearing can also help adjust the placement of a motor with respect to the axle you wish to rotate using ''idler gears'', ''belts'', etc. You will see some examples throughout the lessons.

'''Here's a diagram of a gear:'''\\
[[Image(Gear_Diagram.jpg)]]

== Basics ==
Please go through the following resources in order:
1. Watch this [https://youtu.be/uz436Ixbl-I Gear Introduction Video]
2. Go through this presentation from FRC Team 5256: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QCNvScwu5JSv_iEcl3Hmvv2kbDE-AeP-/view?usp=sharing Gears and Gearboxes]
3. Watch this video on [https://youtu.be/H9_Llzcz2cY Simple Gear System Calculations]

== Advanced ==
If you're interested, you can check out these videos from Engineers Academy:
* [https://youtu.be/k7Zu1QwE-uY Idler Gears]
* [https://youtu.be/lWpQ1GZA2s8 Compound Gears]
* [https://youtu.be/Lp3fhVhm2L8 Planetary Gearing]

== Gears in CAD ==
To learn how to properly CAD gear systems on Onshape from Team 6995, check out this [https://youtu.be/lkE-E7zAk8c video]

== !VersaPlanetary Gearbox ==
When it comes many [wiki:Motors FRC Legal motors], we usually need less speed and more torque to make use of them on the robot. For [https://motors.vex.com/ VEX motors], we use the [https://www.vexrobotics.com/versaplanetary.html VersaPlanetary Gearbox].

To assemble the gearbox, use the [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jryIdJdArRqhUl3B0psLbRh6bPRykkx4/view?usp=sharing VersaPlanetary User’s Guide]. You can watch a quick tutorial from FRC Team 4327 [https://youtu.be/txfdzPp0qQo here].

[[Image(VersaPlanetary_Gearbox.png)]]