[Specialagentjim]

Originally Posted by jjdebner

This may sound silly. But if you reduce the pressure in the tires to get more traction then if it is a four wheel drive system won't it jerk and jump when turning alot more. So it is basically a trade off between turning and climbing. Unless you have "special wheels". So just make sure you can still turn when you have some pressure taken out.

We use a pnuematic cylindar with a delrin skid on the end to lift the robot's rear two wheels while turning. This enables us to have a 3 point turn, 2 being powered, the other being a skid. The piston ONLY engages (theoritically) during a turn, as defined by software. While going foreward (i.e. pushing, climbing), all four kit wheels are engaged on the ground for full torque/traction.

Definetly take some pressure out of the tires to climb. I'm also thinking more weight towards the front of the robot will help. We've found its not so much the diameter issue on the wheels, but the traction the tires get on the diamond plate. Our robot could climb up the side of a diamond plate wall until it reached the point where it would flip (around 12" high). By decreasing the pressure, you'll increase surface area of the wheel against the diamond plate. More surface area = more traction = more climbage (climbage a word?...dunno..)

If what I said makes sense, ALRIGHT! If not, lemme know!