I agree that a good driver always helps more than good traction/good robot. Since this year's competition will probably require more manuverability, the driver will be even more important.

Herrmmm.... well.. there is no arguing that the Tread system is the BEST traction out there, the question is just getting the dern' thing working!
our team, after some post-season development, worked it out. The key is to put a bogie-whell in... allowing the 'bot to spin on two small areas while turning, increasing speed about tenfold, and keeping traction still as high as it needs to be.
You need to experiment with which angle is best for your 'bot... but 6 degrees seems to work pretty well..
Our modified bot went:
9 mph, turned on a dime, and exerted approximately 100,000 N at max torque.

our drive system is a hybrid of wheeled and walker...hehehe


Bad

Re: How good are your tires??
 

What kind of tires do you have and where did you find some to fit the robot and the keyed shaft?

http://www.lightlink.com/wgbrooks/te...02_build_1.mpg

And to solve the binding problem when turning (the wheels with no lateral traction):
http://www.team639.org/pics/2002_wheel_on_chassis_2.jpg

OMG!
 

OMG! is the name of this post "how good are your tires" LOL! Tires, jeez when are people going to learn there not the way to go. Well hopefully never =) :cool:

Re: OMG!
 

hehe, thats right. why use wheels?

Our tires are sweet!..... can't give away details... but I will share soon.... to give a clue.. "they are ideal for the world of the wire ramp!" :D

we were pushing our mentor around in low gear and when we stopped he went flying off. i dont think that answers any questions but it was funny

john scans

Traction????
 

What's the big deal....it's not tough, just be creative. I will not disclose any of our traction information at this time, but you'll know when you see us

we got the 3 Spokes ones from Skyway....they have great traction on top of the ramp as well....they were $112 for 4 of them. so they better be worth it

oh guys since our team has a real field ramp, full size made, well its almost complete but what i wanted to say is your bot wont work with tracks at the top of it, it will be to rigid and will slam down at the top also if your bot only weighs 55 pounds, i hope you dont plan on staying on top of the HDPE platform, cause 55 lbs will slide right off, that stuff is slicker then ice and your bot will be pushed right off. Well also there is one more thing i would say about goling up the ramp with your bot but since i want to get you guys thinking about it, whats goign to happen when you put anything weighing over 20lbs going faster then 2ft/sec at a 14degree incline, it wont climb! the bot will slide down the ramp if its going at all relitivly fast, or you prob are braking a rule if it doesnt slide right down or has traction on the grate (hint: you cant have anything go through the open 1"x1"grate squares...)
~Dez
www.team250.org

We just used the skinny gray tires that came with teh kit. ya.. we're trying to stay economical. Maybe we'll cut notches or put studs on them. But that's for later

you can't put any hard plastic or metal studs on tires this year.. but notches always work- I still remember us frantically filing notches on a couple of our tires a few years ago right before we were due to compete... good memories

Those wheelchair wheels (skinny gray ones) have terrible traction on the mesh. My advice is to use some other kind, such as the large solid rubber ones.