Quote:
Originally Posted by UndergroundVoid
Please think about the world from both views as in the glass in half empty and half full.
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Actually, it's twice as big as it needs to be.
You have to consider this from all angles. The "cool" factor, pushing power, maneuverability, speed, maintainability, simplicity if you like the KISS principle... All of those are going to affect whether or not a tread design will be better than a 6WD/mecanum/3WD omni/swerve system for a given application. Demo robots, who cares. "Cool" factor will probably win. Prototype/practice will have a different dominant factor. Competition, yet another.
From what I understand, you're looking at doing a prototype/competition treaded robot design, not that you're actually going to use it, but that you'll have it in your bag of tricks. Whether or not you use it in competition is up to you, and you'll have to decide whether it'll fit the game requirements when the time comes. For now, design help:
I'm not a tread drive expert, but I believe that the gearing is similar to that of a normal skid-steer robot. Look at it this way: The robot lays down its floor, rolls on it, and then picks it up.
Correct tensioning: have an idler wheel that is adjustable. Slide up or down to tension. That's one way; there are others.
Oh, and for Gdeaver: 6WD (and the other systems, for the most part) is plenty good at ramps. Stairs are a different problem, but can be solved in many creative ways.