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Originally Posted by twolf
Obviously when you attend a regional you see the teams that have been at this for a long time that have very non traditional drivetrains that might be skid steer, tank tracks or whatever else. We are wanting to acquire some of these components to test them for next year so we can move beyond the casters and pneumatic tires. Is there a good site to buy this stuff? I have checked out AndyMark and we used their Omni wheels this year.
Also, do you have to use the kit transmissions? Are the AndyMark transmissions the same as the KOP?
Please help if you can, we really want to move up a level for next year.
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Well, there's a few good suppliers out there--many of the tank treads are sourced from
Brecoflex. They're expensive and slow, but yield good results (see also: recent SPAM).
There's also a lot of good sources for parts
in this thread.
The kit transmissions are good, but entirely optional. The AM Shifter is an entirely different two-speed pneumatically-shifted transmission (although I recall that 343 has successfully modified them to shift with servos). The AM Gearbox has the same gear reduction as the KOP Transmission, but a different output shaft (1/2" versus around 5/8" for the Kit).
There's also the option of rolling your own transmission--there's several designs in the white papers section of
CD-Media. Anything that meets the rules set forth in the FRC manual is fair game.