[Pretzel]

Team 1619 used a tank tread style design this year that used two belts wrapped around four pulleys each to propel our robot. We had our right belt snap in quarterfinals match 1-1 in the Utah regional. This occurred because the belts were the same we had used with a two cim drivetrain in years prior, while this year we had used a four cim drivetrain with a two speed transmission, which gave the belts a bit more abuse (along with the rough gameplay).

We did design to be prepared for a belt failure however, and we back up and running within five minutes. All we needed to do was remove our side panel, slide the belt off, and then slide a new one back on since our design had the side panel acting as the second point of support for the pivots. As soon as the new belt was on, we merely had to slide the side panel back in place and tighten the screws again.

It turns out that the belt had failed at its weld point. The failure itself actually occurred when we were pushed sideways for an extended period of time and one of our guesses as to what happened is that the tread, with it's square edges, had its edge hang up on the carpet. This would allow the best to twist and increase the tension on the belt, which could lead to a snapped belt.

At any rate, our team came out of Utah with a learning experience behind us. We ordered some new belts before the Colorado regional, with twice the steel fiber content, and went back out to compete with no further problems.