[Ken Leung]

I've always encouraged teams to do carpet testing on their robot. Not only would they learn more about traction and weight distribution, they will also get to see if their wheels/treads are going to damage the carpets at the actual competition.

So, I am wondering if you guys can show teams how to build such a traction tester, so each team can build one easily at home.

It will be really cool if every teams have one of these traction tester at home, so they can try out different wheels material, different weight distribution, and different shape of robot .

I suppose it's really easy for teams to just come up with one themselves, but why not help them out by drawing a plan for them?

And, eventually, we can come up with a bunch of numbers from each team for the coefficient of friction of the material they are using on the wheels/treads. With enough testing, we can even figure out the best material for robots using 4 wheels, 6 wheels, treads, etc, without damaging the carpet.

This is great stuff for teaching teams about drive system!

Thanks a million!