Building the Mongoose Mechatronics Robot: Part 1 Chassis & Gearbox

Step 2 Adding the rotation encoders to two blue gears.

The blue gears as shown below are IR transparent, so we're going to add IR opaque aluminum foil to a set of gears one for either side of the gearbox (the blue gears are all identical so any two will do)

The kit includes a small piece of self adhesive aluminum foil with a hole punched in the center.

You will need two of the blue gears as supplied with the kit.

• Cut the foil into four pieces using the hole as the center.
• Remove the adhesive backing from the foil only when you're ready to apply it
• Apply two foil pieces to each gear, each foil piece should be opposite each other.
• Carefully burnish the foil onto the gear with a toothpick or soft burnishing tool (the example below use a piece of spruce from the gearbox assembly)
• Carefully trim away excess foul by slowly running a sharp hobby knife through the foil as show in the pictures below.