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caster....no
every how and then I have some imput that is worth while. How I think ill share that.
In this years game we experienced many robots with casters and and center drive. We were thrilled when we got to go against them, and disapoointed when we got paired with them. Why? Caster-bots can turn very quickly and efficiently. And if the game was all about this then it may not be a bad idea. But what you must know is that If I hit your robot anywhere but the front, I will spin you and then push you. You are also going to lose alot of ability to push other teams as well. The more wheels on the ground, the better, this will give you the most resistance to opposing motion.
One team that had a very sweet caster-design was team #9. This team rarely gets the credit they deserved but their robot performed perfectly. They set 4 wheels in the back of their robot (all powered) and had 2 casters in front for balance. They were able to turn effortlessly and were able to resist pushing and pulling quite well.
If you want mobility and power you can always use crab or omni drive (which are a little complicated) but otherwise you could use what we did. We had four wheels on the ground and had a caster attached to a globe motor that could deploy in under a second. As a result we could turn quickly and then pull the caster up for power. We were amazing at defending the stack, and I attribute it to this design, and awesome driving.
hope that helped
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soukupd_gv@hotmail.com
Team 74 Alumni
2003 Great Lakes, Midwest, and West Michigan Regional Animation Award Winner
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