Quote:
Originally Posted by wilsonmw04
I think these are intended for the FTC market primarily. They can use all 4" wheels.
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I believe you are correct.
FTC rules have opened up a bunch in recent years, and one of the 2013-2014 changes has allowed the use of different COTS wheels.
Quote:
Wheels of any type up to 4” diameter (as measured at the outer surface of the tread)*. Wheels that have exposed
features likely to cause damage to field and/or game elements are not allowed. Wheels are considered to be the
total of the rim (the plastic or other material on the inside), the tire (the rubber or other material on the
outside), and the manufacturer provided wheel hub used to mount the wheel to an axle. Individual components
of a legal wheel assembly can be used on the robot (as long as wheel and hub are 4” diameter or less).
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FTC's kit is really lacking in certain areas, one of which being wheels if you want something that's a bit more competition oriented, so it's a fantastic change. I'd imagine that a lot of the recent product additions are going to be really well received in FTC, with the side benefit of being useful in FRC as well. It's also worth noting that Mecanum wheels are actually really, really useful in FTC (as is any holonomic drive, really) since the robots and games lack some of the dynamics that can hinder the competitive advantages of omni-directional drives, and the fields are really, really tight considering the robot size constraints.
*I believe some teams have run into trouble using some FRC "4 inch" wheels since when measured at the tread, they can actually measure a bit over 4" - usually within .125 - .1875" - so it's worth keeping a set of Calipers handy if you don't want to be surprised.