Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
Factors that determine the optimal wheel drop: - Wheelbase length
- Wheelbase width
- Chassis rigidity
- Deformation characteristics of wheels (pneumatic/compliant vs rigid, tire pressure, etc)
- Traction / CoF of wheels
- Compressibility of wheel tread
- Surface robot is driving on
A lot of these are very tangible things, but others are less tangible. For most non-pneumatic wheels, it seems 1/8" is a safe "drop" number that covers a wide variety of wheelbase lengths and widths, even if it's sometimes more than necessary. The rock caused by 1/8" drop has a very minor effect on most manipulators.
Pneumatic wheel drop is more complicated and I have less experience with it, so I don't know a "perfect" number for that. Experimentally determining this is probably your best option. |
We tried 1/8" in 2014 and it was very noticeable. I've always thought that something between 1/16" ad 3/32" is a better drop for firm treaded wheels like blue nitrile.
What did people run in 2009, out of curiosity? Were drops even used?
As an unrelated side note, using omni wheels on the corners instead of treaded wheels will of course greatly reduce the required drop.