Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Matteson
My $0.02:
For a rookie stick with a #35 chain drive. Its far more forgiving than #25. The weight savings isn't worth the tolerance hassles or the effort to get sprockets that aren't from the KOP.
If the point of asking the question is to save labor so the rookies can focus on other mechanisms then the kitbot is the best way to go. It works and is solidly reliable and doesn't take long to build freeing your team to focus on make other parts for the robot, isn't that why we got the kitbot in 2005?
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ARGH! I hate to be a bit aggravated in my response, but NO NO NO! If you don't have a rookie team start experimenting now with a newer system, how will they ever get to it?! Why are we discouraging innovation and trying new things?! Isn't that counter to EVERYTHING FIRST is about?!
Besides, #25 chain is more than strong enough, provided it's done correctly! Here's what I mean by correctly, so I'll have a post to link people to every time this nonsense comes up: It needs to have the sprockets perfectly co-planar. The chain needs to be properly tensioned (not too tight, not too loose). That's ALL! I've used #25 for 4 years now and NEVER had a failure, and that's for both arms AND drivetrains!
Another point: We all have NO idea what the Kitbot is going to be, NONE of us do! It hasn't been built yet, so we don't know what kind of chains, if any, will be on it. Let's please save from making generalizations about a system that hasn't been delivered yet.
I apologize for the outburst, but I HATE the myth that #25 is "too weak" or "too hard" for FIRST use. So please, OP, whatever you build, save yourself the 5ish pounds, and use #25!