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Re: [FTC]: Caster?
I don't do much with FTC, so I'm not even going to make a tentative rule interpretation, but speaking as a physicist, a caster wheel with an integrated swivel definitely has two degrees of freedom.
As a workaround, you may be able to combine a non-swiveling caster wheel with a small lazy susan bearing to achieve the same result yourself, using two COTS items each with one degree of freedom.
Thinking more about DoF, do the rules state that actuators must only have one DoF, or COTS mechanisms in general? A caster wheel with a swivel has the same number of DoF as a ball joint, but neither of them are actuated (controlled). A wire or a pneumatic hose has several non-actuated degrees of freedom.
Oh - another easy way to achieve 2 DoF with separate COTS items: an idle omni wheel with bearings that are a separate COTS item. We used these on our 2013 FRC robot as functional equivalents to swivel casters.
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Last edited by GeeTwo : 08-01-2016 at 20:28.
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