Re: IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!! WE HAVE CONQUERED ALL THE WORLD WITH THESE!!!
 

A mechanum drive (jester) shouldn't have much trouble getting up the ramp (it is different than a holonomic drive) if approaching head (or side/back) on, or close to head on. A holonomic drive would most likely require an active suspension to get up this years ramp.
I find it kind of funny to see a custom built mechanum wheel on a KoP frame with KoP gearboxes, but I guess that just proves how high quality the KoP has become.

Re: IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!! WE HAVE CONQUERED ALL THE WORLD WITH THESE!!!
 

Thats a pretty fancy thing to have. But uhm what else is it going to do? I think it would be great to have a shooter because you could move sideways and aim much better.

Re: IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!! WE HAVE CONQUERED ALL THE WORLD WITH THESE!!!
 

WPI had a fully holomonic drive base last year using mecanum wheels.

www.team195.com/files/WPIQuarter.wmv

Do you have some kind of sensor that will communicate actual distance traveled by each wheel back to the RC. The mecanum wheel drive train works on the principle of force vectors (you can each wheels direction and force to come up with your net force, therefore your net acceleration) I would think dropping some velocity on a wheel would cause this thing to behave quite erratically.

Re: IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!! WE HAVE CONQUERED ALL THE WORLD WITH THESE!!!
 

The url wont let me see the page.

Re: IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!! WE HAVE CONQUERED ALL THE WORLD WITH THESE!!!
 

Some omnidirectional wheels may not make it up the ramp but Jester Drive will! :D (aka Mecanum wheels)

Team 1595 has chosen to build a version of the Mecanum wheel system that we used during the 2005 competition season. We were very pleased with the results...what about this year...look for Jester Drive v 2.

You can see some video and check out some drawings from our AIA site.
Jester Drive v 1 - 2005

Re: IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!! WE HAVE CONQUERED ALL THE WORLD WITH THESE!!!
 

how much does that drive system weigh?
one idea our team had was rather than using the gearbox first provides us with (which is far too heavy) design out own CVT (continuously variable transimission) similar to that used in a snowmobile. It would do two things, it would be lighter, and also it would give us torque when we need it and speed when we dont. im just wondering how much weight it took up to do this type of a drive system if you used the gearboxes. thanks

Re: IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!! WE HAVE CONQUERED ALL THE WORLD WITH THESE!!!
 

We did not use the FIRST supplied gearbox. We did use a two stage reduction (single speed) drivetrain as part of Jester Drive to give us the final drive ratio we wanted for this year. We have used 2 speed, shiftable transmissions in the past and found that we did not utilize the "high" gear as much as we thought we would.

Your idea of using a CVT makes more sense to me since it frees the driver from the task of gear selection and allows them to focus on playing the game.

Since Jester Drive is a Mecanum wheel system that utilizes the split roller design, the robot moves and turns in a any direction without drawing a significant amount of current from the battery since it has very little friction to overcome when changing directions. Jester Drive also moves with force in all directions (push & pull in all directions) unlike omni-wheels or casters that slip to allow easier changes in direction. The Mecanum wheels incorporate the advantages of multi-wheel drive trains (eg 6 wheel) and "crab steer" systems. The challenge with Jester Drive is that you must fabricate the wheels and rollers...you can't order them from IFI, Andy-Mark, Skyway, etc.
The finished wheels are also heavier than most other commercially available wheels (this can be an advantage and a disadvantage). Our 10" 2006 Magnum wheels weigh 4.5 lbs each. The wheels are a 9 spoke design with 18 individual rollers (two rollers per spoke). The hubs are cast aluminum...last year the hubs were machined.

If you are interested in fabricating your own Mecanum wheels, we will be at Championships with a display and literature that details the process we use. If you are not going to be at Championships, send me a PM and I'll forward information to you.

Re: IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!! WE HAVE CONQUERED ALL THE WORLD WITH THESE!!!
 

Those are some sweet rollers, how did you manufacture them? Or where did you purchase, team 1902 was really impressed with 357's drive, I've built some succesful omni bots in the past ( team 1083 )but never with mechanums wheels. They are quite impressive, but I'd love to learn more about the process of making the rollers.

I've never delt with injection moldings or anything, I'd love to see a white paper, if you did it yourself.

Its unfortunate that I didn't get to talk to you guys more about your wheels and fabrication of them and you were our alliance partner hehe! I'll deffinately be looking you guys up at Atlanta to talk to you more about how you created those wheels.

Re: IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!! WE HAVE CONQUERED ALL THE WORLD WITH THESE!!!
 

In my previous post...please note that these are MECANUM wheels not Magnum wheels. :confused:

I must need some sleep...