Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay O'Donnell
What was the reasoning behind the gear drive over something easier to implement? It's really cool looking, but was there a reason regarding function that you went this way?
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Our original chassis requirements included a few distinct constraints:
- We wanted the chassis to have a 28" x 32" footprint in 'long' orientation
- We wanted the front of the chassis to have an opening large enough for both totes and recycling containers.
- We wanted to have a reliable H drive
- We wanted to use the new AndyMark
DuraOmni Wheel
- We wanted to have a raised center wheel to cross the scoring platforms.
- We did not want to spend a lot of time assembling/disassembling the robot for Transportation Configuration requirements.
Furthermore, we did not want to pursue serpentine chain or belt options as we were far less experienced with these ideas as a team, and we were concerned about the reliability of these methods. Gears ended up allowing us to make the drive modules much narrower, allowing for this opening in the front of the chassis to be large enough for our initial constraints. We also really loved how a drivetrain like this is virtually maintenance free with periodic lubrication.
-Nick