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Unread 08-05-2013, 11:24
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Jeffy Jeffy is offline
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AKA: Jeff Gier
FRC #2410 (Metal Mustang Robotics) #159 (Alpine Robotics)
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Rookie Year: 2008
Location: Fort Collins
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Re: Highest traction wheels

Quote:
Originally Posted by MICHAELABICK View Post
This is also like drag racing, where they heat up the wheels so that they "stick" to the ground and wider wheels have more traction.
This is also in effect on robots. The wheel will heat up during use and can gain traction because of this.


As stated above, softer wheels will do you better most of the time. However, when I built bots that drove on painted wood surfaces or stainless steel surfaces, a very soft foam wheel often had less traction than a harder rubber wheel.

One more thing,
When running a robot on a hard surface, the surface quality effects traction much more than on carpet. Sticky wheels will suck up dust and their CoF will quickly change.

If this were my project, I would first try a few different types of urethane wheels and test to see if I liked the results. I would also try a few different tread patterns.
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Metal Mustang Robotics 2410 (2008-2011)
2008 STL Rookie All-Star
2010 GKC Finalists
2010 OKC Champions
Alpine Robotics 159 (2012-)
2012 CO Finalists

700 miles from home, 2 miles from FRC. Life is good.