Best looking wheels [Archive]

Karthik

10-10-2006, 20:09

the ones i loved at Championship were some that were CNC'ed and anionized goldenish .. they looked like the MUGEN RNR's for you honda fans. what were your favorite wheels

The West Coast Wheel (http://www.firstrobotics.uwaterloo.ca/resources/galleries/wheels/wheels16.jpg) -- Originally used by 60 & 254 in 2004. Various incarnations have now been used by 4, 22, 968, 980 among others.

Wildstang 2006 (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/22564)

IFI Traction Wheel v2 (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/25447)

Lil' Lavery

10-10-2006, 20:12

Wildstang '06
781 '04 (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/16939)

sporno

10-10-2006, 20:20

I'm a little biased, but it's gotta be ours. there should be a pic around here somewhere...

here we go! http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/22758
thats sick.... where do u get stuff like that .. i envy those wheels , my bot had the skyways with treat cut into them from a chop saw

Po-ser

10-10-2006, 20:30

Po-ser

10-10-2006, 20:33

I'm a little biased, but it's gotta be ours. there should be a pic around here somewhere...

here we go! http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/22758

Actually, out of curiosity, did the tread ever rip out of the fasteners on those bad boys? It looks like there's so little holding in so much! :p

chris31

10-10-2006, 20:34

Wildstang '06
781 '04 (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/16939)

Wow, those look nice!

AdamHeard

10-10-2006, 20:41

The West Coast Wheel (http://www.firstrobotics.uwaterloo.ca/resources/galleries/wheels/wheels16.jpg) -- Originally used by 60 & 254 in 2004. Various incarnations have now been used by 4, 22, 968, 980 among others.

Check out the new version of those wheels (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45204&highlight=968); They're even more awesome looking.

Billfred

10-10-2006, 20:52

The West Coast Wheel (http://www.firstrobotics.uwaterloo.ca/resources/galleries/wheels/wheels16.jpg) -- Originally used by 60 & 254 in 2004. Various incarnations have now been used by 4, 22, 968, 980 among others.
Add 900 in 2005 (http://www.maikenmagic.com/palmetto/900.JPG) to that list; zebra print aside, they ran something similar to the 254/60 setup of 2004. (Other issues kept them from realizing its full potential, IIRC.)

From the straight-off-the-shelf division, I'm still a fan of the AndyMark plastic omniwheels (http://andymark.biz/plastic-omni.htm). Omni-drive wasn't the way to go in 2006, but at least you looked good if you tried. Ditto for the Mecanums (http://chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/25631); I can't wait to see some prototype drivetrains in action.

I've also got to give the nod to 179's 2005 setup (http://chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/19796). The goped wheels might not've been the flashiest set around, but they were clean and effective (especially with a madman on the joysticks).

Dan Petrovic

10-10-2006, 21:05

HOT's 2005 (http://www2.huronvalley.k12.mi.us/schools/mhs/activity/hot_team/HOT_Engineering_files/2005%20-%20Engineering/images/mech3.jpg) wheels. Isn't it the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?

Lil' Lavery

10-10-2006, 21:07

At Wired Magazine's NEXTFEST in New York two weekends ago I saw mechanum wheels in action for the first time on Team 40's robot, and I think I could feel my jaw drop to the floor. I know the shock of seeing mechanums will fade eventually, but for now they're the most eye-popping, eye-pleasing thing I think I've ever seen. (Sorry, couldn't find a picture. Not like you all haven't seen them already.)
357's Mecanum drive (dubbed the jester drive), is the sexiest of all the FRC mecanums.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/20664
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/25132
http://www.team357.org/?page=view_photo&ID=358

Conor Ryan

10-10-2006, 21:26

My vote is divided between The California wheel, and Wildstand in 06. But you can never forget the special JVN edition Andymark Spinners (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/22582)

And as far as omni wheels are considered, the blue and orange combination that 1126 has used (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/17206) looks pretty great.

sporno

10-10-2006, 22:20

wow those are some amazing wheels!!!!!!!

James114

10-10-2006, 23:07

Actually, out of curiosity, did the tread ever rip out of the fasteners on those bad boys? It looks like there's so little holding in so much! :p

The pop rivets never came out and we are still using that very same tread on the wheels even to this day.

Gabe

11-10-2006, 01:38

Ah yes, the wonderful aspects of blue nitrile conveyor belting. Wears less than the natural rubber, and that means more time without having to change tread, which is hard to do within five minutes.

About wheels, I must show you what our 2006 wheels look like. The design came from one of our team members. :D

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/24249

With blue nitrile tread on them, they are beautiful.

Alex Cormier

11-10-2006, 07:56

And as far as omni wheels are considered, the blue and orange combination that 1126 has used (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/17206) looks pretty great.
haha thanks for the comment!

They are also my favorite wheels and my favorite thing i created.

sporno

11-10-2006, 08:42

HOW / Where do yall get these amazing looking wheels made?.. some look like car rims... AMAZING!

Stephen.Yanczura

11-10-2006, 13:27

The pop rivets never came out and we are still using that very same tread on the wheels even to this day.

x2 It looks sketchy, but they hold very, very well. I used them last year when I mentored 1660. As for wheels... I like BBS LMs :eek: ;)

http://www.speedwaremotorsports.com/images/wheels/bbsLM.jpg

And Team 195's Belt cogs are the bizzzz :)

EDIT: To answer sporno's question; I can speak for Team 195 only here, we buy the solid belt cogs from BrecoFlex and have one of our sponsors CNC mill over HALF of the material out of the inside.

jackie Ha

13-10-2006, 13:29

to be honest, and a little bias, i loved 968's / 254's wheels. the hex shafts made the changing tread sooooo much more easier for me and the pit crew.

jacob07

13-10-2006, 15:42

The West Coast Wheel (http://www.firstrobotics.uwaterloo.ca/resources/galleries/wheels/wheels16.jpg) -- Originally used by 60 & 254 in 2004. Various incarnations have now been used by 4, 22, 968, 980 among others.

Wildstang 2006 (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/22564)

IFI Traction Wheel v2 (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/25447)

I like the Wildsatng wheels. The are a easy sight to the eyes

Schnabel

13-10-2006, 15:54

CraigHickman

14-10-2006, 19:07

Actually, out of curiosity, did the tread ever rip out of the fasteners on those bad boys? It looks like there's so little holding in so much! :p

we never had any issues with losing tread... however, we did have some issues with having too much traction.... that was interesting.

efoote868

14-10-2006, 22:19

357's Mecanum drive (dubbed the jester drive), is the sexiest of all the FRC mecanums.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/20664
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/25132
http://www.team357.org/?page=view_photo&ID=358

I think my team, 868, gives you a run for your money this year. (before the competition chewed/dulled the rollers) They're nice and shiny too
Hub, wheel assembly (http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n158/efoote/5wheels.jpg)
wheel assmebly (http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n158/efoote/6wheels.jpg)
working on retractable wheel casings (http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n158/efoote/12wheels.jpg)

not only are they beautiful, but we also got the xerox creativity award (at atlanta) for our ability to pull them up into our robot

sporno

16-01-2007, 16:36

any more?

Otaku

16-01-2007, 20:22

Man, seeing all these cool wheels makes me want to talk to one of our mentors and asking him to CNC out some cool design into ours.

That being said, I think Quixilver's wheels looks the coolest.

rachal

05-02-2007, 01:24

I'm extremely biased, but I think my own custom mecanums are the hottest wheels ever.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/26677?

Although Quixilver's lightning bolt pattern is gorgeous :)

CraigHickman

05-02-2007, 01:27

I'm extremely biased, but I think my own custom mecanums are the hottest wheels ever.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/26677?

Although Quixilver's lightning bolt pattern is gorgeous :)

I recognize those... Weren't they on our mill just a bit ago? Looks great you guys, best of luck on making them work.

We topped our wheels from last year, bringing them down to .3 pounds total with tread. I'll post a picture soon.

Gabe

05-02-2007, 01:34

Although Quixilver's lightning bolt pattern is gorgeous :)

Sadly, this year we will not have lightning bolts on our wheels, since we are going with 4" dia. rather that 6" and there is no space to make the pattern on our new wheel size. Rest assured, the wheels will still look nice. (Lightning bolts might come back another year ;) )

Otaku

18-03-2007, 18:32

Sadly, this year we will not have lightning bolts on our wheels, since we are going with 4" dia. rather that 6" and there is no space to make the pattern on our new wheel size. Rest assured, the wheels will still look nice. (Lightning bolts might come back another year ;) )

I saw the wheels this year, and also did an approximation on the weight... and the 6in's seemed to weigh less. Not to mention, the chrome lightning bolt wheels looked ace, and I really liked you machined "Quixilver" out of the back of your bot.

Also, I saw the damage your arm took. That was pretty nasty looking, and I hope you get it sorted out. I also hope to see you guys at another regional or the nationals!

-Michael Baker, 675

cziggy343

18-03-2007, 19:08

http://metalinmotion.com/

the picture of our robot on the front page is the only one that i could find, if i find a better one with the wheels, the ill post it.

CraigHickman

18-03-2007, 19:24

These. http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/26719

Alex Cormier

18-03-2007, 19:34

ok, ok.

im going old school with my wheels (http://www.firstroboticscanada.org/site/files/active/1/680_large.jpg) back in the '04 day.

ADZDEBLICK

18-03-2007, 19:55

I would have to say in my biased opinion that 195 has some amazing wheels this year.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/c4e/c4e8c783d53eec8223671382faef941b_l.jpg
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/2ad/2add47ebe5e059bddec7f5bc460cf434_l.jpg

Gabe

18-03-2007, 21:27

I saw the wheels this year, and also did an approximation on the weight... and the 6in's seemed to weigh less. Not to mention, the chrome lightning bolt wheels looked ace, and I really liked you machined "Quixilver" out of the back of your bot.

Also, I saw the damage your arm took. That was pretty nasty looking, and I hope you get it sorted out. I also hope to see you guys at another regional or the nationals!

-Michael Baker, 675
The 4" wheels actually weigh less, about 0.5 lbs. each compared to 0.75 lbs. for the 6" wheels. Also, the older wheels from 2005 weren't actually chromed; I just buffed them and finished with a light polish.
We are very proud of our robot and its design.

Sean Marks

18-03-2007, 21:30

I'm a little biased, but it's gotta be ours. there should be a pic around here somewhere...

here we go! http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/22758

our wheels look almost exactly like that. :yikes:

There pretty sweet :D

Jeremiah Johnson

18-03-2007, 21:45

ok, ok.

im going old school with my wheels (http://www.firstroboticscanada.org/site/files/active/1/680_large.jpg) back in the '04 day.

Could that be because you made them yourself?

Alex Cormier

18-03-2007, 21:46

Could that be because you made them yourself?

noooo...;) :p

Jeremiah Johnson

18-03-2007, 21:53

noooo...;) :p

Haha... that's what I thought.

I haven't really seen any awesome wheels in person. Although, 468 (not 648) had some massive 18" wheels, they just made them flip over easily though.

Otaku

19-03-2007, 00:48

The 4" wheels actually weigh less, about 0.5 lbs. each compared to 0.75 lbs. for the 6" wheels. Also, the older wheels from 2005 weren't actually chromed; I just buffed them and finished with a light polish.
We are very proud of our robot and its design.

Hmm. Well, it seemed like they weighed more. Anywho, yeah. The bot design is pretty nice, and I especially like the grabber mechanism. Aluminum and neon green tubing looks cool.

Gabe

24-03-2007, 02:09

Here are pictures of our 2007 wheels, and compared to our 2006 wheels.
(Sorry about the cellphone camera resolution)
http://inlinethumb48.webshots.com/3119/2366487850100928272S200x200Q85.jpghttp://inlinethumb35.webshots.com/4322/2763734700100928272S200x200Q85.jpg

D.Fahringer

24-03-2007, 21:46

....Wheels,.... one of my favorite subjects! Here is Team 122's wheel for 2007, an 8 inch H20-jetted snowflake type with 1/16 thick sheet aluminum skin held by 4-40 flat head screws at every other snowflake leg. A fixture to align and position the drilling for tapped hole is shown. The assembled wheel is then finished with the now well known grippy conveyor belt material using contact adhesive and sheet metal screws. The students worked hard on getting 6 of these and a spare finished and did a great job of it!

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze7r9f3/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/07roboticswheel1.jpg

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze7r9f3/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/wheeldrillingfixture.jpg

http://www.team122.org/images/album07/images/IMG_0254_jpg.jpg

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze7r9f3/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/drivetrain.jpg

http://mysite.verizon.net/fahringer/

Gary Bonner

25-03-2007, 12:02

A little off topic, but I came across some mecanums in my travels last weekend.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/27926

spinmunky

25-03-2007, 18:51

sure this wheel isn't real but it would be awesome to have on our robot!
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v519/spinmunky/?action=view&current=fancywheelmotionblur.flv

Ian S.

02-04-2007, 16:25

My team, 1522 had designs for custom mecanum wheels that Andrew Brown (A senior at Hanover High School) developed through Autodesk Inventor. They didn't work as well as we had hoped, for the material we first tried to use turned to dust as we shaped them, so the subsitute material had much too little friction, so we slid a bit too much.

Nevertheless, I think the wheels looked amazing, and hope to use something like it for post-season projects.

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/4695/robotsday1109nv9.jpg

Alpha 997

02-04-2007, 22:52

i know it's a "wheels" thread, but our drive train is still pretty sweet. Outback MFG tank treads, powered by 4 CIM motors with Andymark transmission and can push like a rino. we've out-pushed 2 robots head on during the last match of the PNW final.
http://team997.org/gallery2/d/2167-2/HPIM1992.JPG
http://team997.org/gallery2/d/2188-2/HPIM1999.JPG

Chinaman07

02-04-2007, 23:10

I think omni wheels and mecanums are pretty bulky and un-sexy ( sorry for all the people who like them ) I'm quite a fan of those CNC'ed one's which usually are nice and shiny and sexy. verry nice!

pakratt1991

02-04-2007, 23:14

Omnis and Mecanums dont have the pushing power or stability this years game requires, our team found them useful for the 2005 games but as we learned last year, we had created a shopping cart not a tank.
Omnis have their years. this is not one of them

rachal

07-04-2007, 19:21

122's snowflake wheels are pretty. They look pretty dang light for their size too :)

Does anyone have pics of 254's bat-wheels? They were from 2003, I think.

Gabe

09-04-2007, 21:53

Does anyone have pics of 254's bat-wheels? They were from 2003, I think.
There are very few pictures that I know of that really show their wheels.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/14675
http://team254.bcp.org/old-site2/images/pictures/2003/03build/Matt,Justin,Bob-working-on-robot.JPG
http://www.firstroboticscanada.org/site/files/active/1/332_large.jpg

sporno

08-02-2008, 14:32

So who has some good looking wheels this year , 540 has colson wheels , they arent pretty , but do the job

JesseK

08-02-2008, 14:35

IFI Wheels.

If we could have found some purplish tread, we would have made the side plates purples, otherwise the purple clashes with the off-colored orange tread.

Not like you can see the wheels from the stands anyways.