Quote:
Originally posted by LittleDave
The formula for the force of Friction is F = u N NOTICE THAT THERE IS ABSOLUTLY NO CONCIDERATION FOR SURFACE AREA!! The thing thats going to make the biggest difference in traction is the material you are using and the coefecent of friction it provides with the carpet. Timng belts and other track materials are made of hard rubber and that means they have a low coeffecent of friction! I suggest that some of you re-think your driving mechs.
-Im sorry for my * spelling errors. * means i couldent spell terrible or atroshus
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While surface area doesn't matter, weight distribution does. The larger area in contact with the ground means that more of the weight will be positioned over the drive wheels (or treads,etc....therefore increasing N). Treads (as in with teeth) work a bit differently because they don't work on the properties of friction. They instead apply a contact force to the carpet parallel to the carpet (ie, they dig in and grip the carpet). In this case, larger contact area does help. Also, hard rubber has a satisfactory coefficient of friction (meaning not particularly high nor low).
Matt