The
Drivetrain Improvements white paper from IFI is an excellent read, as are all the white papers at IFI's
page about the kitbot. (I especially like the one about the chassis design process) Anyway, the "Drivetrain Improvements" whitepaper essentially compiles and distills a lot of drivetrain advice and knowledge into 10 succinct pages. (With lots of diagrams) Many of the whitepapers on Chief Delphi go into greater depth, and have many other, more radical, designs, but this one goes through lots of simple alterations to the kitbot that can make your robot more competitive. From personal experience, I can say that a kitbot with 6WD and tread added to the wheels makes a very nice and competitive drivetrain, and only requires 2 additional KOP wheels, sprockets, and 4 more hubs. (Although, if you're like us and spend $160 on sprockets it could get a tad pricey)