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Unread 06-01-2010, 16:45
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CHapstack CHapstack is offline
Team Captain
AKA: Chris
FRC #0281 (EnTech)
Team Role: Mechanical
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Rookie Year: 2007
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 15
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Re: Rover wheels on carpet?

Quote:
Originally Posted by 360skier View Post
Interestingly enough when our team practiced on a mostly carpet surface (with some regolith) we didn't have any static problems either. No problems at regional either. However, at Atlanta we had a weird problem where the cRIO would spontaneously reset itself. Someone suggested it may be static, so we put electrical tape across all of the open ports (serial, Ethernet, and exposed module slots). It worked flawlessly after that.

If you truly have a static problem, then I would suggest taping any exposed conductors that are near the wheels, especially if they are advanced electronic components (e.g. Jaguars, Digital Sidecar, Gyro, cRIO).
We had the exact same problem with our cRIO. It worked fine all season long until it started resetting every 30 seconds during matches at Championships. The National Instruments support guys had no clue what was happening, but eventually we figured out that it was a static problem - except our static electricity was generated by our PVC rollers with leathery belts (bad idea). The problem was solved by connecting a wire from the roller bearing block to the frame, which looked rather funny.

As for the rover wheels, I would recommend putting adhesive stair tread on the wheels. It's like sandpaper, but with a sticky side (meant to be put on stairs to prevent people from slipping). We used it when we did a demo on carpet, and it worked great - no static problems and lots of traction.
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