Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

Velcro! or the preferred 3M dual lock

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

Looks great, very well put-together!

Just a thought about the belt-wear testing: you'll probably want full-grip wheels to test how quickly the belts wear out, otherwise you won't really be putting the belts under full load.

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

Are you using 4 or 6 inch wheels?

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

We are using SBR rough top on the wheels.

They are 4 1/2 inch wheels.

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

Ah, very good, though there isn't any tread in the pictures.

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

Yeah we just put the tread on the wheels yesterday.

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

[quote=TheLoneAsian;972560)

They are 4 1/2 inch wheels.[/QUOTE]

Ok that's an odd size, why not use bigger wheels where u will get more speed out of ur wheels. Do u no how much the wheels weight?

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

Speed & Torque are a tradeoff in electric motors. 4 1/2" wheels may be appropriate for 1625's general drive train speed/torque targets, and easy adjustments can be made by changing the pullies in the gearbox.

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

Also, smaller wheels let the wheels reach a higher speed with a smaller gear ratio, which is (in theory) more efficient.

Theory is a nice place, I'd like to go there one day.

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

More importantly, smaller wheels means you spend less weight on wheels AND gears, since you have less of a reduction. Luckily weight isn't that theoretical. :)

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

Our wheels weigh approximately 3/8 of a pound, but they could probably be lighter. We used these wheels because they were easy for us to make and cost effective. If we built this drivetrain in an actual build season we would probably use even smaller wheels made out of aluminum.

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

Great Design :D We've been thinking about doing some gear shifting too. Having the extra power would be great :D

Hopefully, next years field wont have a terrain element that cant be avoided. :/ Clearance is always annoying.

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

Absolutely beautiful design and I love the idea of keeping the belts internal. We used belts the past season and they are ridiculously robust as long as you make sure they're tensioned correctly.

My question is did you broach the plastic wheels for direct drive or is there a hub in them?

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

Not to mention that small wheels require less material, less tread to tread them, and often less machining time, so they're less expensive to make. (Cost isn't theoretical either :P)

Oh, and they look cool.

Re: Winnovation Midwest Coast Drive
 

That looks really pretty, but I'm a total newb when it comes to belt drives.

Can you explain it to me in a way that will allow me to teach it to a team later?

Specifically:
Why belt vs chain?
How do you tension it?
Any quick rules-of-thumb I should know about?

Or better yet, how do I tell if a belt system is good? Often, knowing if the result is good is almost as useful as knowing how to get a good result. {P=NP?}