[archiver]

Posted by Dodd Stacy at 1/13/2001 10:37 AM EST


Engineer on team #95, Lebanon Robotics Team, from Lebanon High School and CRREL/CREARE.


In Reply to: oh but of course ...
Posted by Anton Abaya on 1/13/2001 9:02 AM EST:



: : Anton,

: : People may be nice enough to **help** us, but people aren't going to design this bot **for** us....

: : To all:

: : We are exploring the use of tank treads on this year's bot...any one have thoughts? Pros? Cons? Suggestions?

: : I drove a tank 'bot in '99 and there were a few problems that I'm not sure how to address in this one. Mainly speed and steering. The friction was so great when we'd turn that the timing belt would pop off frequently and the turning would often be painfully slow when driven like a tank with 2-joys. Also, there only seemed to be a point that we could push the drills to to power it, cutting our speed drastically. Would reducing the width of the tank treads help these issues? I have seen some decently fast and tight turning tank bots in past years...though I myself am a wheel girl all the way ;o)

: : I'm not an engineer..not even close, though myself and Anton are about the closest to engineers this team has. Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

: : ~ lora T419

: indeed.... i just want to know what other teams have done and learn from them. instead of starting from a blank page, i say we learn as much history about treads (both good & bad) and proceed from there...before we even speculate whether or not it can be built or should be. At this point, it seems it's our choice.

: -anton

Try putting a VERY slight amount of front to back rocker (curvature) or vee in the tread path (on the bottom). Most of the weight is then carried near the center of the tread length, so there is less side skid drag by the front and rear portions of the tread, and it steers MUCH more easily. Good luck.

Dodd