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Re: 4WD Turning Difficulties
For all those that are making early design decisions based on driving experiments involving driving Robots on the "Regolith" flooring without a Trailer attached, I would urge exercising a LOT of caution. The driving/handling characteristics of a Robot with a Trailer are COMPLETELY different than a Robot without a Trailer. Learning how the Trailer affects the performance and agility of the entire vehicle system is critically important. And once you understand those effects, learning how to use them to your advantage is equally important. And don't make a decision too early - a driver with about an hour of practice will learn how to use the Trailer to spin the Robot through turns and pivots with a lot more agility than may have originally been anticipated.
As one benchmark, after a bit of practice I was able to take a standard kit-bot system with trailer attached and run it from one end of the Crater (starting with the Trailer touching the Alliance Station Wall) to the far end, execute a 180-degree turn and make contact with the far wall, and run back to the starting wall in about 12 seconds. This was repeatable several times.
-dave
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__________________
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My OTHER CAR is still on Mars!!!
Last edited by dlavery : 06-01-2009 at 19:18.
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