Re: Anyone Thought of This?
 

I REALLY like this approach. Nothing breaks your heart more than seeing a bot on the field, going in tight circles, and you can see a motor spinning the air and nothing else.

Re: Anyone Thought of This?
 

Are you steeling our design.

I think you idea is great and worked for us last year.

Re: Anyone Thought of This?
 

Our team started with a setup exactly like this (from Greg's post - sorry I don't know how to include his thumbnail in the reply) but quickly ran into issues on the ramp. When the bot would go over the peak at the top of the ramp the chains would drag. We have redesigned and are now using a setup similar to the previous post (black drawing). Watch out for you chain clearance on the peak of the ramp.

Re: Questions about an Idea for a drivetrain.
 

Your sketch show that the 'light' chain runs on smaller (less teeth) sprockets than the 'heavy' chain. Is that really what you intend or am I reading too much into it. No one else commented on this so I just thought I would mention it.

Re: Questions about an Idea for a drivetrain.
 

Yes you are right, if a chain is running 1 wheel we use #25 chain and if it is running 2 wheels we use #35 chain. The wheel on the right has #35 chain on it just to keep things symetrical in the gear box.

Re: Anyone Thought of This?
 

Now you may consider this a problem but over the years my team has used this as a feature. I know in our 2001 robot when it was still legal to touch the ground with metal, our robot had skid plates on top of its chain. When the robot went over a 2 by 4 on the carpet the chain would actually carry the robot over it like a tread. Now of course its illegal to touch the field with metal. So two years ago we used V-belts to power transfer from the front to rear wheels. We added skid plates on top to help the robot get up over the 12" step. So its a feature to keep in mind. :)

Re: Questions about an Idea for a drivetrain.
 

With any of these designs, keep chain tensioning in mind.