Rover Wheels
 

Has anyone been searching for some alternative sources for Rover Wheels (especially for prototype bots, the trailer, etc) ?

I've been thinking about buying a sheet of Acetyl (the material of the treads) and just gluing them onto our old KOP wheels.

Rover wheels are kinda steep

Re: Rover Wheels
 

FIRST is requiring us to use the rover wheels. I am not sure about other sources, but they won't allow the older wheels, according to my understanding

Re: Rover Wheels
 

These rover wheels are custom made by AndyMark. They are the same spokes as last year with a different tread material bonded to them. I think.

Re: Rover Wheels
 

That sounds like a good solution to save wear on the real wheels while still getting the effects of the low CoF.

As long as you don't use them on the final robot, of course.

Re: Rover Wheels
 

They are available on AM here.

Sorry, misread OP's post, disregard.

Re: Rover Wheels
 

Acetyl is not the easiest thing in the world to get glue to stick to. However, for a practice trailer or prototype bot you may be able to take some of last years wheels and wrap them in a thin sheet, and bury a couple of rivits or screw heads into the material to keep it in place. Also, you can buy HDPE thin sheet material, it is used for a lot of woodworking jigs and stuff, for example Woodcraft has 10' rolls in both 3/4" and 3" widths here http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=902 that comes with an adhesive backing already applied. Other woodworking specialty stores usually carry it, too. I'm not sure if you can find it a your local big box (Home Depot, Lowes, etc) store.

Re: Rover Wheels
 

Yeah, Andy Mark, Sell's them were picking some up as we speak :D

Re: Rover Wheels
 

A note to everyone replying "get some from AndyMark" - the original poster asked for some alternatives for use on practice trailers and prototype bots, due to the cost of the wheels.

$40 for a pair of wheels for the practice trailer may not be in some teams budgets, I know one of the teams I am working with falls into that category, so lets try and provide some helpful alternatives, please?

Re: Rover Wheels
 

Good point.

For practice purposes, a very easy thing to do is this:

Rivet on a 0.04" thick strip (or thereabouts) of Acetal plastic to the kit wheels from 2007 or 2008. The 2009 Rover Wheels are actually 6.08 in diameter. Keep in mind that this would be for practice purposes only, if a team wants to reuse their wheels from last year. According to rule R06, only Rover Wheels are allowed in this year's game.

Andy B.

Re: Rover Wheels
 

Thank you for all your helpful feedback :)

Re: Rover Wheels
 

We are looking at using last year's wheels for a mock up of the trailer. I don't see that the difference will be that great on the trailer. For the most part, its going to follow your bot anyway. Only when the bot goes into a spin and the trailer jackknifes would it make a difference.

Re: Rover Wheels
 

We're working tomorrow on mocking up a trailer and drivetrain, and if at all possible I'd like to have some makeshift wheels for testing purposes. We have old wheels, so all we need is something that will turn them into slick wheels.

Do you have any recommendations on where to acquire the Acetal material for this? Is it available at a Lowes/Home Depot, or is this more of a specialty product?