[Al Skierkiewicz]

Although we have used casters in the past, we have decided that for most applications, a caster design will be considered last. If you are moving in one direction and want to reverse, the casters have a mind of their own as to which way to turn and rarely will they allow you to back up in a straight line. For last year's competition we had four wheel crab but did find it neccesary to turn the robot at times. For this we had a pnuematic cylinder drop a "foot" to lift two wheels off the ground. This allowed a change in attitude and moved the center of turn to one side of the robot. It is tricky for drivers to learn but with practice it was very effective.