Re: Favorite wheels
 

Personally, I am a huge fan of the AndyMark Performance wheels. If given a preference, I like wedgetop treads, but roughtop works just the same.

Re: Favorite wheels
 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being old school, I'm still a huge fan of dead axles and #35 chain in drivetrains and if I could find a 4" pneumatic wheel I'd be totally up for testing them out.

In the "modern era" of FIRST you may want to look at 330, 469, and 1114 from 2010, they were rocking pnuematic wheels if I remember correctly.

Re: Favorite wheels
 

We have done some tests that back up this statement. There are certain pneumatic tires that perform extremely well in terms of grip. However, they are sometimes difficult to interface with.

Our decision to use Colsons has been based on several factors. We find the balance of solid grip, a wide range of sizes, extreme durability and ease of interfacing (hubs) to be tough to match in other wheels.

-Brando

Re: Favorite wheels
 

We at AndyMark world headquarters are working on an 200x50mm pneumatic wheel that solves this problem, making these wheels utilize a standard FIRST-type sprocket and hub mounting interface.

We are planning for a release near Thanksgiving.

Andy

Re: Favorite wheels
 

You just made my day.

-Brando

Re: Favorite wheels
 

Today is a great day.

Re: Favorite wheels
 

I love Andymark! :D

Re: Favorite wheels
 

I'll say it too, this is great news

Re: Favorite wheels
 

I've been fantasizing for years about a 4" pneumatic wheel on the market similar in style to what 330/1114 have used, but what 469 uses would also be different. Quite a bit different from what you're making... but hey, if the 8" takes off, might move down to 4"? ;)

Re: Favorite wheels
 

When it comes to bang for the buck I really like AM 4" performance wheels. They saved us a ton of machining this year verses our custom 4" wheels we've made in past years.

Also I too am a fan of pnuematic tires, and we came up with a good live axle hub design at least 10 years ago for them, but 4" wheels give so much more design flexibility.

Re: Favorite wheels
 

We've been thinking about this too. Finding a commercially-available 4" pneumatic tire might be the big hurdle to cross. 8" tires (200x50mm) are easily available, but 4" are non-existent.

What about the pneumatic tire do you guys like?

Obviously, there is the "baked in" compliance, as Dr. Joe mentioned. The other feature is a high coefficient of friction.

Do you need this compliance to be variable, as with pneumatic tires (you just change the air pressure, of course)? Or, would you guys accept a compliant wheel that would not have variable compliance?

Andy

Re: Favorite wheels
 

Personally Andy,

A variable compliance would be great! In 2010 we were looking at pneumatic wheels and loved what 330/1114 did that year.

-They do have a nice coefficient of friction

-They absorb shock as you land!

-Perfect for offseason stuff/No replacing tread

-4" allows you to make custom gearboxes for drive within in 2 stages nicely/compact.

-Perfect for stair/obstacle climbing.

I've had some thoughts about these wheels a while ago. Andy, I believe there is a company that we spoke to that could make the same type of wheels in about 3-4" IIRC, with a min of 500 pieces. Let me see if I can dig up some information.

-RC

Re: Favorite wheels
 

The problem is the tire, not the wheel, no?

Re: Favorite wheels
 

In 2004 we used 6" pnuematic wheels from Skyway ... They worked out ok, just don't pop them, replacing the inner tub is not fun!!

http://www.skywaywheels.com/products_004.htm

Re: Favorite wheels
 

If speed and agility is the main concern, then I find AM mecanums to be nice. just be sure to use the newer gray rollers and not the older black ones. when direct driven by toughbox nanos they tend to be pretty foolproof... my fromer team, 2783, used that type setup in 2011 and there were no issues regarding the drivetrain.

In addition, they save the programming squad a lot of time... being part programmer I know the level of *fun* swerve code can be...

the only wheel I really have a strong opinion on was the 8" coolie dualies. Anymark no longer has them on their site, and to those reading this, you should be very grateful. I remember from 2008 (on 1747) how bad they seemed to bend... the robot had 2 AM performance wheels in the front and 2 coolie dualies int he back... the robot killed all 4 we had on hand and had we had more the number would have gone up from there. I am not sure why they taco'd so easily but it was very frustrating... It seems that the newer dualies are of better and stonger design.