Quote:
Originally posted by ajlapp
power loss sucks, but we designed around the power loss.........
the robot we used that year had no power what so ever, because we designed strictly to pick up balls. last year we didn't use it, because of power loss, instead we built a tried and true swerve.
don't give up yet, there are ways to use the kiwi and keep power on the turf, trust me
|
like polyurethane rollers in a four-wheel configuration! nearly as efficeint as tank drive!
You see, with three wheel killough(kiwi), if you spin all three wheels you get a robot that is turning . . and you won't get all three motors adding forward power. With four wheel, you can have all four motors putting all their power into forward push. Whether or not you are powerful at that point depends on your traction, and polyurethane is a great sticky thing, and your gearratios, which are entirely up to the team.
In motion, some energy is lost to the omniwheels inefficiency, but if you buy 'real' omni wheels, as linked above by myself, you get nearly the same efficiency as say, a tank drive going forwards.
So you see. You get to make the same choice between power and speed you do when designing a tank drive, but you get super maneuverability thrown it! No extra charge! Well, a little for the wheels, but not too much!