Coefficient of friction of wood vs metal

[C.Lesco]

How large do you think the difference between a rock wall made out of wood and one made of metal is? Our team has a little trouble getting over the wood rock wall to begin with, are we in trouble?

[IKE]

What is contacting the rock wall wood/metal? What kind of wood, how dusty is it?

[pandamonium]

The metal rock wall also has a rounded edge.

[Jen Lawrie]

It will depend a bit on what type of wheels you've used. As an example, AndyMark's 8-in pneumatic tires reportedly have a CoF between tire and carpet of 1.27, compared to the CoF between tire and steel of 0.49. The link below lists some CoF values. There could be a significant difference.

http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-0972.htm

[MrForbes]

We had to do some work to our chassis to get over the rock wall, after adding a layer of sheet metal to the top of it. Remember the ramps are also made of plastic....not plywood...

[TylerS]

Originally Posted by C.Lesco

How large do you think the difference between a rock wall made out of wood and one made of metal is? Our team has a little trouble getting over the wood rock wall to begin with, are we in trouble?

If you're having trouble getting over the wood rock wall, don't count on it being any easier at a competition field. I would work on improving your design/strategy until you can confidently get over the wood rock wall and then you won't have to worry come competition where things are almost always harder even though metal is a little more "slidey" than wood.

[MrForbes]

Go to the hardware store and get some metal flashing, and some (relatively) cheap acrylic, to make your defenses more realistic.