[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by BenGuy

Hello, I'm from 3641, we did a different kind of H-Drive. Our system was called a deca drive, this consists of 2 CIMs driving a center gear in the middle of a seesaw type system with two small omni wheels on the ends, connected by gears to the center gear being driven by the CIMs. When power is applied either way, the system throws that side down into the ground (just from the motor's torque) and spins the omni wheel at the same time. If we switch the direction of the motors, the seesaw simply tilts to the other side. When the system is not being used, the seesaw balances even with the bottom of our robot, allowing us to easily go over the scoring platforms. This deca drive worked very well for us in Recycle Rush, and thanks to our four main drive wheels being omnis as well, we were very maneuverable.

Pictures of ours are attached, and a video of robowranglers with a similar system is right here: https://youtu.be/oRwvQ2D_B-c?t=34s

Thanks for the renderings! I like that the swing is clutched to the cluster axle, which causes the wheel on the side that you're accelerating away from to touch the carpet, which should improve traction. I do have a few questions about some of the details:

• Did you have trouble overshooting your strafes? There does not seem to be any way to properly brake in the strafe direction.
• The gearing looks rather fast for strafing in Recycle Rush; counting of gear diameters, I get about 8:1 or 9:1. Did you actually use strafing as a means of travel, or just to line up for pickups and scoring? Unless you needed the top speed, you could have made the output cluster gear smaller, pulled the wheels pulled in to match, and probably done as well with one CIM.
• How do you control the coupling between the seesaw and the cluster shaft, to get the proper wheel loading? Is there a friction clutch between the output cluster gear and the seesaw, or is it just in the bearings, or what?
• Is there a spring, or does the seesaw return to the horizontal when not driven just based on gravity? Given the amount of friction needed in that bearing, the short offset of the CoG from that shaft, and the large moment of inertia of the seesaw, gravity doesn't appear to be enough.