Quote:
Originally Posted by glennword
IIRC, I learned in physics that the force of friction is dependent upon the coefficient of friction and the normal force, and surface area has nothing to do with it. Given, that equation only holds true for hard surfaces, not "squishy", yielding surfaces like carpet and roughtop tread.
|
I think you've answered your own question. Classic newtonian friction calculation doesn't work for irregular, soft, non smooth surfaces. The best way to figure this stuff out is test it yourself with tread and carpet. Try driving your robot into a wall and measuring the motor's current draw with different size wheels, this should give you a pretty accurate predictive model of the relationship between wheel width and effective traction.