After two FRC seasons, I've been thinking about a design for the drive system with the following characteristics:
- Modular- self contained unit that could be used year-to-year regardless of the chassis design
- Compact- our previous designs have taken up a lot of "real estate" in the chassis
- Reliable- both mechanically and controls
- Controllable- teleop control smooth and predictable
- Agile- not jerky
- Good efficiency
- Strong- takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'
- Low maintenance
My son and I have been working on an FTC system that is performing well:
We built the prototype with a direct drive from the motor for testing. The FTC components have:
- MATRIX motor with planetary gearhead and encoder
- MATRIX motor controller uses encoder for PID speed control
- 4" VEX Mecanum wheels
- Omni-directional controls programming for Mecanum wheels
We're working on an FRC version:
- Full size CIM motor
- Encoder
- Jaguar CAN bus speed control
- Wheel hub planetary reducer, 5:1 (think Sturmey Archer bike hub)
- Bevel gear reducer 2.5:1
I'll post our progress