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Originally Posted by JohnFogarty
Not being an expert in physics here, but if you go any smaller in wheel size I'm betting the wheels wouldn't support the weight of the robot.
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Originally Posted by DjParaNoize-
I believe that having 2" wheels would not be able to hold the weight of a 100~120lbs. But I haven't tested it so, I don't know really. Interesting though.
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Originally Posted by Oblarg
Generally, from what I've seen, you essentially make them out of solid delrin and they're plenty strong.
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Originally Posted by EricH
You could use 2" wheels, and have them support the robot. You'd just need more of 'em, most likely.
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I find it very interesting that so many people associate smaller with weaker. This is definitely not a hard and fast rule. Nick has provided a number of good reasons why teams do not use smaller wheels. In general, an excellent reason to go with smaller wheels is to eliminate stages of gearing in the geartrain making the robot lighter, simpler, and more efficient. 4" wheels are actually at the point where only one reduction is needed to get to a non-stupidly fast drive speed. From this point of view 2" wheels do not allow us to remove any further stages and come with their own set of challenges; some of which have already been mentioned.
Cheers, Bryan