Climber in a Box
$129.00 – $249.00
The AndyMark Climber in a Box is a robust, lightweight, configurable, and affordable solution for climbing challenges historically present in FRC end game periods. The design of Climber in a Box ha...Read More
Product Overview
This product uses a "spring out, winch back" powertrain strategy, using off-the-shelf 3.5lb constant force springs to raise the included Hook Kit, and 3 mm Dyneema Rope to retract it with the included Winch Kit. Simply unspool the included rope using a planetary gearbox to raise the hook(s), drive the robot up to the bar, and winch it back to elevate your robot. The AndyMark Climber in a Box does not include a motor or gearbox, but is compatible with many off-the-shelf planetary gearboxes on the market that have a 2" bolt circle mounting pattern and support a 2" long 1/2" hex output shaft, including the highly durable blue Sport Gearboxes when a 2" replacement shaft is purchased.
The bearing kits within this product are designed to go from 2" square 1/16" wall aluminum tubing, down to a 1" square 1/16" wall tube, with a 1.5" square 1/16" wall tube in between for the 2 stage flavor of this product. A combination of durable 608 bearings and custom molded plastic components provide the bearing surfaces for a free-flowing telescoping tube mechanism with no 3D printed parts. Each stage has a maximum travel of 24.5."
The AndyMark Climber in a Box is an unassembled kit of everything you need (excluding gearmotor) which is designed to require no precision machining in order to make your FRC robot climb. The plates included within the Hook Kit, Bearing Kits, and Winch Kit are all designed to be assembled and used as drill guides for match drilling their mounting locations onto the aluminum tubes. Each tube is pre-cut to a 30" length so no cutting of the tubes is required to achieve maximum travel. This product is available with and without aluminum tubes. If a team has access to extrusion locally, ordering this product without tubes can cut down on product and shipping prices.
Motor and Gearbox Pairings:
Driving the climber in a box can be simple and easy. Not sure which gearbox or motor to use? Below is a list of recommended reductions for whichever motor you may have on hand utilizing our CIM Sport and 57 Sport planetary gearboxes. These recommendations are based on one climber and one robot and are based on the minimum safety factors for the motors, gearboxes, and other components. Utilizing two climbers instead of just one may allow for lower ratios.
- RedLine - Paired with 48:1 57 Sport
- Mini CIM - Paired with a 20:1 CIM Sport
- CIM - Paired with a 16:1 CIM Sport
- NEO 550 - Paired with a 36:1 57 Sport
- NEO - Paired with a 16:1 CIM Sport
- Falcon 500 - Paired with a 12:1 Falcon Sport
Assembly:
Assembly instructions can be found below. Watch this video for more in-depth instruction about adding the rope to the assembly.
Included Items:
The 2 Stage AndyMark Climber in a Box (am-4668) includes:
- 1 - Hook Kit (am-4660)
- 1 - 1.5" to 1.0" Tubing Bearing Kit (am-4661)
- 1 - 2.0" to 1.5" Tubing Bearing Kit (am-4662)
- 1 - 2.0" Winch Kit (am-4664)
- 1 - 2" x 2" x 0.062" 6061 Aluminum Square Tubing, 30" length (am-4770-30)
- 1 - 1.5" x 1.5" x 0.062" 6061 Aluminum Square Tubing, 30" length (am-4669-30)
- 1 - 1.0" x 1.0" x 0.062"
6061 Aluminum Square Tubing, 30" length (am-4203-30)
The 1 Stage AndyMark Climber in a Box (am-4667) includes:
- 1 - Hook Kit (am-4660)
- 1 - 1.5" to 1.0" Tubing Bearing Kit (am-4661)
- 1 - 1.5" Winch Kit (am-4663)
- 1 - 1.5" x 1.5" x 0.062" 6061 Aluminum Square Tubing, 30" length (am-4669-30)
- 1 - 1.0" x 1.0" x 0.062" 6061 Aluminum Square Tubing, 30" length (am-4203-30)
- 1 - Hook Kit (am-4660)
- 1 - 1.5" to 1.0" Tubing Bearing Kit (am-4661)
- 1 - 2.0" to 1.5" Tubing Bearing Kit (am-4662)
- 1 - 2.0" Winch Kit (am-4664)
The 1 Stage AndyMark Climber with no Extrusion (am-4677) includes:
Assembled Weight (without motor or gearbox):
- 2 Stage Climber in a Box - 6 pounds
- 1 Stage Climber in a Box - 3.75 pounds
Documents
Returns
Returns are accepted within 30 days of purchase.
View our return policy here.
Recommendations
16 reviews
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Climber in a Box
We have used Climber in a box for our JV team for the last 2 years. They are a great kit with well engineered components and great instructions. We love the AndyMark line of products and always appreciate the great support.
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Great for teaching students mechanisms
These are a wonderful teaching tool. We use them to go over possible mechanisms for FRC and FTC. Great example of a CFS, and its applications. AndyMark makes a great kit, and having it so versatile is also a great asset. As usual AndyMark has given the FRC world a product that is well engineered.
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Great product, cleverly designed.
Great product, cleverly designed.
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Great product
We had a redesign and did not use this year, but still a great learning experience for Club members The climber works well - will purchase again - Thanks Andy! George Williams Team 60
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2 Stage Climber in a box
Materials are heavy duty, dimensions are correct, components fit together without any modifications. Directions are not good. They are hard to read, and do not completely line up to all of the holes to drill. We found them difficult to work through and ask AndyMark to update and release a new version. The Unit works as advertised.
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Climber in a week
We won our regional and were awarded an invitation to First Championships 2022. We ordered two of the single stage "Climber in a Box" kits and the recommended 16:1 sport gear boxes. The equipment was easy to assemble, robust and performed as advertised. Two things to note, even the single stage needs a minimum of a 2 inch shaft change from the gearbox as is, and the 2 stage needs a 3 inch shaft. Also the rope provided did break on us twice in competition which we replaced with 550 paracord. This was an effective replacement and easier to thread through the intake spool.
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Solid!
We used the 2 stage kit for the 2022 season, but only ran the larger 2 stages. The climber performed amazingly well. Our full weight robot could go from mid to high to traversal with a single climber and a CIM with the suggested 16:1 gearbox in under 30s. We paid special attention to bracing and making sure the climber didn't twist, as we saw this as being a problem with other teams that used the 1" and 1.5" sections instead of the 1.5" and 2". Like others said, the instructions leave something to be desired. We ended up drilling out all the holes and just figuring it out as we built it. We were also missing a bag of parts from one of the two kits we bought, which was shipped to us after we called. If you do go with the CIM sport gearbox and a 2 stage climber note that you do need the longer shaft. The shaft that comes with the gearbox is only good to drive the spool on the 1.5" section.
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Great product, but spool could use some work
While the climber itself moves pretty effortlessly and can take a lot of abuse, we did have one issue that plagued us during our regional FRC event. The spool that you need to assemble for the climber is made out of 3 pieces: 2 side walls and one cylinder with a 1/2" hex hole. Once assembled, there is barely any gap between the pieces (like 0.2mm width). When our 120 lb. robot was lifting itself on the climber, our dyneema rope that came with the kit found its way into that gap and kept on wedging itself into the tiny gap between one of the side walls and the cylinder. This caused the rope to get pinched, which then causing the spool to get tangled and limit its range. Covering the gap with tape didn't work (only made a mess). What we ended up doing is cutting a section of PVC to create a slip cover over the entire length of spool shaft. It would've made our lives easier is if the spool shaft was one piece all the way across.
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we loved the product overall, but it was missin...
we loved the product overall, but it was missing several parts when it arrived. that definitely set us behind.
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Pretty good
We are pretty happy with the unit. The build went together fairly easily, and it’s a very solid heavy duty construction. However, the 2”-1.5” stage has a tendency to stick when going up. Luckily we don’t need the full height. 1.5”-1” stage works perfectly though.
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Meh.
It works well. However, the instructions for assembly need a lot more detail.
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Climber In A Box
This product is great. We are a relatively new team. We are able to climb for the first time.
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These are fantastic once they are assembled. It...
These are fantastic once they are assembled. It is really important to follow the instructions carefully -- leaving at a spacer makes the final mechanism much less smooth. During assembly they didn't feel great, to be honest. They didn't slide very easily. Once they were fully assembled they slide super easily. The suggested motors/gearbox we tried works well (though we'll increase the gear ratio a bit just to be safe).
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Overall these are really nice and function quit...
Overall these are really nice and function quite well. My complaints are fairly mild: * Assembly instructions could definitely use some tweaking. Some steps are a bit ambiguous. An exploded hardware view for each step would be extremely helpful. * Aluminum plates appear to be water jet cut. The edges are sharp and need deburring and the bearing holes are just a tiny bit undersized. Also, the relief holes for the gearbox bolt heads on the winch plates were a few thousandths short from centerline so they had to be drilled to a larger size to allow the gearbox to fit. The kits were each short a couple of 1/2" long button head screws but otherwise the hardware was complete.
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Customer service
One of the climbers we ordered came without a bag of hardware. We are all human and we all make mistakes, so no worries on that. As is normal for them, Andymark was polite and expedited our parts to us as fast as they could get here, turning a negative into a positive in terms of their customer service. You can tell they really do care about the teams that buy from them.
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Two Stage Climber in a Box
The 2 Stage Climber in a Box makes it easier for a team to create a climbing mechanism. The directions are fairly clear but I think that a step by step video would clarify the drilling of hole portion. Our team was confused and reread the directions several times. All in all it is a great product that helps to level the playing field for FRC teams of all levels.
