pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

Oooh pretty...

the programmer half of me wants mecanums.

The hardware half says more horsepower and shifters...


I guess it all depends on the game this year, but either way you guys had an awesome design to go with them.


EDIT: Oops.... Yes, i meant shifters. I really need to start using spell check.

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

I feel like we've seen all there is to see with respect to shifting speeds for the most part. That's not to say that we're not going to try for something new, but that the mecanum drive arrangement seemed more interesting to us. It's all we've been talking about, but it's certainly not all we've been thinking about. :)

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

I got to see the latest in AM wares at TFFI and these babys and the aluminum Omni wheels really stole the show.

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

Shhh... Jack... no one knows about the new aluminum omni wheels or the "Coolie Dualie Wheels". Well, no one except the people at the Team Ford FIRST Invitational. heh. :)

-------------

Madison,

We're all looking forward to XBot's implementation of these wheels. Thanks for the updates.

Andy Baker

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

Boy, "Coolie Dualies" is starting to sound pretty official. Any speculation as to when they might be available for sale? Pricing?? :cool:

-----
Mark

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

Awesome!! I really wanted some but after seeing the price... hehe it would burn a big hole in my wallet.

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

It will be interesting to see how many teams use these wheels this year. And now that the "cool" factor has been taken out (Sorry, AM product users..), I can't wait to see some more innovative solutions to the never ending drive train problems.

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

Truthfully, we're not building this to impress the jaded folks of the FIRST world. We see this as a potentially beneficial platform upon which to design robots as well as a fascinating, interesting demonstration robot that'll be able to engage people by immediately making them ask, "How did you do that?" Because we saved some time by buying this wheels from AndyMark, the notion of an omnidirectional platform is no less 'cool' to 95% of the people who're going to see it run.

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

I understand that. That's not the point I was making.

There was a day when omni wheels, multi speed transmissions, and swerve drive were the most innovative thing you had seen on a FIRST robot. Now, these items are considered common and average thanks to teams releasing their designs and producers such as AM selling them. Now that the bar has been raised once again, I am anxious to see if anyone can step up to the plate in 2007 to knock my socks off.

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

I guess now's the time to mention our hoverdrive, powered entirely using PWM cooling fans..
Specs will be available as soon as I can break the laws of physics and make it work.

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

;) Tytus beat you to it...
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/19584

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

The idea isn't that far fetched. :)
Edit: And Gabe beat me to it.

As for the mecanum wheels, I really want to see some more robots with them this year. I've built two holonomic drivetrains in the past that used omni wheels and have always wanted to mess around with a mecanum drive. Keep the updates coming. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Re: pic: AndyMark Mecanum Wheels
 

I'll back that point up as well, we're ordering a set just to give us the challenge of actually programming them and getting them to work. Whether it'll be on our 2007 robot or not is not what we're considering right now, and frankly without knowing the game, it would be silly to try and decide that now anyways. Our first plan is to install them onto our cannon robot to demonstrate at football games or similar events. The way our cannon bot is designed, the bulk of the chassis and wheels is hidden from view, so we're expecting for some jaws to drop when it drives like we hope it will.