Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

Quick aside -- if 234's data is true then wider treads also make turning more difficult due to extra skid traction (if implemented across all 6 wheels).

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

The six wheel swerve actually had basically no extra pushing power past that which a four wheel swerve would have supplied. This is because it was a dropped center 6 wheel. Therefore it effectively only had four wheels on the ground at any given time.

The main plus to the 6wd swerve was maneuverability.

Our team has done a few 4 wheel "swerves" (people call different wheel configurations different names, so I will just group them all under the term "swerve"). We had always done 4 wheel swerves before, but didn't have the programming capability to create a swerve with independent steering and power for each module. without doing this a four wheel swerve will almost always lack the ability to rotate about itself well. (a notable exception is 1717's steering configuration)

In order to get past this dilemma without using programming, we decided to solve it mechanically, with the 6wd swerve.

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

For any math-oriented students who might be curious, here's¹ the inverse kinematics for 6-wheel swerve.

I can't imagine any team actually wanting to build one like that, but who knows :-)


¹look for "swerveN.pdf" near bottom of list

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

While I'm not certain of the exact testing setup 234 has created and tested, we setup our own system.

I can verify that 4X2 won out in our setup as well.

-Brando

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

Brandon/234/Aren,

Did you use a flat plate of tread of varying sizes or use actual wheels and some kind of load cell? Did you do both? It probably doesn't matter for the final result, I'm just curious how much of that increase is due to straight up surface area or if you get "bonus traction" due to the changing radius and interactions of the wheel/carpet interface under different loads.

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

No offense to 234/125, but until I can see the testing set-up, parameters, and data first hand I reserve my right to be skeptical.

Additionally, I'd like to see if they evaluated a greater quantity of wheels compared to wheel diameter. While I don't doubt there would be a correlation there, I'm curious if it's a 1:1 relationship. After all, this point did originate with having 6WD swerves providing more "pushing power."

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

Ok. Now a new question for those who have used swerve:

Wild swerve, Revolution swerve, or custom swerve?

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

We haven't implemented it yet but we have a design for a custom swerve. I feel like COTS swerve is less impressive than one that a team actually spent time designing, and adding their personal style to the design.

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

If you know how to design or make it equally as effective than i would recommend making your own. If you try at it you will find some simple solutions in making it lighter and more suited to your design style.

However if you are not confident that you can make one then go with the revolution kit.

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

While this is our first year trying swerve, I would suggest staying away from a custom setup if you are new to swerve drives. If you try it make sure you have plenty of time to get it all up and working.

We are trying to create a custom swerve drive and it has taken quite a while to design and build what we have so far (not quite done yet).

Wild swerve is a little cheaper than revolutionary and both take less time than a custom setup to design because they are already designed.

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

That is indeed your right, and I too would be skeptical if the situations were reversed. Until we have our testing results in a more organized format, we're going to withhold them.

If I am understanding your second question, are you asking if we tested more than 1 wheel at a time?



About the testing setup- the wheels are mounted on a pivot arm, weight is applied at the end of the arm thus giving a standard "normal" force to any wheel placed in the rig. A torque wrench was utilized, and torque was applied to each wheel (each wheel being affixed to a shaft). We then recorded the torque each wheel experienced right up until it slipped. Pretty simple.

-Brando

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

What precautions did you take to make sure the force on the torque wrench handle did not change the normal force?

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

The torque wrench utilized a ~5" extension so that the physical handle of it hung off the edge of the table. We then had an aluminum block that had a pocket cut out of the top to accept the extension on the torque wrench. A top piece would then screw into the block to captivate the torque wrench extension. The entire torque wrench assembly would then be self-standing even when disconnected from the wheel testing rig. Due to various size wheels, we used this block in combination with a series of spacers to keep the extension on the torque wrench fully supported for all wheel sizes.

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

I can't quite picture what you're describing. If the torque wrench handle is captured in a (stationary?) aluminum block, how do you push on it to exert a torque?

Do you have a picture of the fixture?

Re: 6 wheel swerves
 

I don't have a picture offhand, but can get one at our next meeting.

The block is supporting the extension of the torque wrench, not the handle itself. The handle remains free to rotate as it would normally.

The aluminum block is not acting as a clamp, more of a bushing. A loose enough fit that the wrench can spin, but snug enough to provide support to the extension. The block ensures the torque wrench is in the same position every time, and also ensures that the torque load is being exerted as axially as possible to the wheel.


PS: Maybe we should consider resurrecting/starting another thread as we've pretty much hijacked this one.