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Unread 04-08-2010, 13:13
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AKA: Isaac Rife
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Team Role: Mechanical
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Rookie Year: 2003
Location: Michigan
Posts: 2,149
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Re: Drop-center drivetrains: Why?

We had a variable drop center chassis this year. In simplest terms, it allowed our middle wheel to raise up while going over the bump (4-5"). This allowed us to have smoother and faster transitions with less impact on the robot/chassis. This was a key component of our strategy as we knew that for many matches we would start in the back and work our way forward and did not want to be limited by the potential tunnel pinch point. Our analysis (check white papers) showed a flat or rock 6x6 would have a considerable amount of problems going over the bump (not impossible, just not pretty).

The variable drop middle wheel also allowed us to flatten the chassis to "hold" directional heading (very important in 2005, 2006 and 2007). As it turns out, this year holding a particular heading was not as essential as those other years. You were either pointed at the goal to take a shot, or you were not. If we had been allowed to store multiple balls, this would ahve been a different story, but it also would have been a very different game.

This variable ride height middle wheel did cause issues with our collector.