[gallo26]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

I would be concerned with the front and rear driven omni-wheels. In our experience, having no side-force resistance to turning will lead to a robot that is very difficult to accelerate in a straight line.

We've used that drivetrain in 2007 and 2008. 2007 we used 4 banebot KOP gearboxes. 2008 we used an AM supershifter. Both years we had no problem with the robot driving straight. Even in autonomous with a little help from a gyro, we were able to drive straight.

Originally Posted by M. Mellott

You plan on using 25-series chain to drive the omnis...how will you tension the chains? Also make sure the alignment between each pair of sprockets is acurate.

I was considering adding those tensioners that Andymark sells for #35 but purchase them from McMaster for #25. But now I'm going to just cut slots into the plates and have an idler sprocket with a shoulder bolt. That's always worked for us in the past. And lok-tite is a definate for everything we use

Originally Posted by Jeff 801

It appears as though you are using AM toughboxes, you might want to leave the cover over the gears to keep dirt and FOD out of the gears and grease.

I agree with that. It's not a lot of weight, and I'm going to put the aluminum one back on. Should look nice too. Thanks for the tip!

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I'm still a little confused as to why this chassis is being built with weight in mind (other than to keep it liftable, roughly under 150ish pounds), but it looks simple and effective.

I'm assuming that there would be cheerleaders and people who cannot lift as much as we can. With safety in mind, I want to keep the actual weight of the robot between 120-150lbs. That includes bumpers around the perimeter, 2 batteries, and the rest of the robot. With this 30lb drivetrain, assuming bumpers are at a max of 18lbs like FIRST. There is approx 45-75lbs for electronics, and the manipulator.


Thank you for all for your input

Bryan Gallo