[shamuwong]

We originally had 6 wheel drive, but we determined that the amount that we had to put the middle wheel down to work with mountainboard wheels without hopping was too much. When we fired, the balls rotating in our helix on one end and flying out of the shooter on the other made the robot rock back and forth, affecting our exit angle too much. To remedy this problem, we converted to 4 wheel drive with 2 pneumatically activated ball casters for turning. Therefore, when we do maneurverability work, we are essentially a 2 wd robot. When we have to push, we drop down on all four wheels. While the system weighs more than normal 6wd drivetrains, we have found that it is the ideal drivetrain this year, as pushing on the corners of robot does not make it rotate as easily as 6wd robots.

For gearing, we used four Dewalts, as they were much easier to make and lighter than any other solution, as well as providing 3 speeds.