Mad Mare Studio's Super-Worm Drive Gearbox

This is a set of 3D models that I designed to take a ServoCity Worm-Drive Gearbox that I got at http://www.servocity.com/html/vertical_shaft_worm_drive_gear.html, and turned it into a more robust platform for robotic applications.

The ServoCity Worm-Drive Gearbox motor, which is typically used for non-robotic slow-moving time-lapse-like applications, and I turned it into a motor/casing kit that I plan to use half a dozen times in different parts of my Xdroid project. The new enclosure is 3D printed using my MakerBot Industries Support Replicator 1, though I am working with a good friend of mine right now on CNC milling the drive-gear and top/bottom plates to make a version that can Really handle the high-torque needs of an Xdroid. All models were made by hand in Blender.

My personal belief is that the Worm-Gear is under-appreciated in the robot world, as it has the Magic property (in my mind anyway) of being able to "Hold Its Position Without Power Applied!". This isn't new of course, worms are used in many robot applications today, but not so much in the Maker/Open Hardware movement yet. I hope to change this for the movement, as for all of my future robots (including my Xdroid), I plan to follow, "the Way of the Worm Gear" for all my mechanics!

Note! This is not an in-expensive solution. :( I am still hounding ServoCity about their pricing. ;) You will need to buy some additional bits that I include in the installation instructions if you want to build a Super Worm-Drive Gearbox.