Quote:
Originally Posted by menace101
And I would like to bring up the 4WD drive with the steering similar to a car, what's that called, by the way? I think it would definitely give us more control overall. Especially when compared to skid steering or something. One question that bothers me about it though, will the low coefficients of friction render this kind of steering just not worth the time input into designing and making the system?
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I believe the FIRST colloquial term would be "swerve drive". edit: apparently not
The major obstacle in your way is probably going to be replacing the chain-drive with shafts and gears. Also, CV joints would likely be involved. Making the steering rack it's self wouldn't be too bad, but the whole system would add a couple layers of complexity to what needs to be the most reliable part of your robot.
While turning, you'd be able to make more efficient use of your traction, and it would be far more controllable at speed. Whether that's worth the extra complexity, weight, and motors depends on what your team finds important in a drivetrain.
edit: come to think of it, you could use a single CIM to drive all four wheels, and a CIM to power the steering rack. that could potentially be a pretty good solution, but you'd need two or three limited-slip differentials for it to handle properly, and I think andymark is fresh out of those...