Honest opinion on 2017 drivetrains

[I_AM_Clayton]

Edited:
(poll) I'd simply like your personal opinion on which drive train you believe will be the most competitive in Steamworks.

[Chris is me]

It is never "what's best", it is always "what's best for your team". The theoretical best drivetrain is just a fun thought experiment.

For the vast majority of teams, it will once again be a tank drive. A drop-center if the wheelbase is longer than it is wide (or squareish); a 4WD is fine if it's wide enough.

Some of the alignment in this game could be made a little easier with a well implemented strafing drivetrain, but I don't think the advantage is so big that the lost practice and build time required to develop this drivetrain would be fully offset.

[I_AM_Clayton]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

It is never "what's best", it is always "what's best for your team". The theoretical best drivetrain is just a fun thought experiment.

I'm not asking "what's best for your team when it comes to experience or time", I'm asking which drivetrain you personally believe will be most competitive when placed on the field. I attached a poll.

[Joe Johnson]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

<snip> a 4WD is fine if it's wide enough.

<snip>

OR if two of the wheels are not super grippy (e.g. omniwheels or just hard plastic wheels)

For that matter, I'm not sure that a simple 2WD with center wheel drives and casters front and back wouldn't be just fine this year. Don't let a ball get you high centered but that is true for pretty much any drive. High centering is never a good thing even if your robot can recover...

FWIW.

Dr. Joe J.

[MARS_James]

What if my teams drive train isn't an option?

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by MARS_James

What if my teams drive train isn't an option?

ah, you're doing a Strandbeest, too?

[EricLeifermann]

Originally Posted by Taylor

ah, you're doing a Strandbeest, too?

Hovercraft

[bobbysq]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

Hovercraft

We were planning on using BristleDrive. You attach off balance loads to 6 CIMs and attach floor brushes to the bottom of your robot.

[Mike Schreiber]

Originally Posted by MARS_James

What if my teams drive train isn't an option?

You mean like 8WD?

[C.Lesco]

Honestly I am so behind Holonomic/omnidrive its not even funny. I think the best teams at worlds will have holo/omni as it will be able to zoom around and pick up balls the fastest. I believe that in the worlds final matches control of the balls will be the key factor as each alliance will be able to complete gears no problem (unless maybe there is a world scoring re-balancing like there was last year with the increased tower strength).

I'm interested if someone wants to argue my points, always fun to hear a new side.

[Isonine]

Originally Posted by C.Lesco

Honestly I am so behind Holonomic/omnidrive its not even funny. I think the best teams at worlds will have holo/omni as it will be able to zoom around and pick up balls the fastest. I believe that in the worlds final matches control of the balls will be the key factor as each alliance will be able to complete gears no problem (unless maybe there is a world scoring re-balancing like there was last year with the increased tower strength).

I'm interested if someone wants to argue my points, always fun to hear a new side.

And the worlds best teams will be blocking teams from getting gears. If you have holonomic you're just going to get pushed across the field.

[kyle_hamblett]

Considering the "open field" nature of this game, tank will definitely be most effective. It also seems that historically speaking, tank has been the most successful style of drive train year after year.

[Sperkowsky]

In my opinion a well executed swerve drive will be king this year.

After that we have tank.

H Drive and Mecanum Drive trains wont be bad until eliminations where they will be completely wrecked by defenders. Good luck trying to align for anything with a robot pushing yours around.

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

H Drive and Mecanum Drive trains wont be bad until eliminations where they will be completely wrecked by defenders. Good luck trying to align for anything with a robot pushing yours around.

Wouldn't that happen to a swerve drive too?

[gerthworm]

Originally Posted by Karibou

Wouldn't that happen to a swerve drive too?

For a well designed swerve drive, it should have similar traction to a tank drive, but you can point that traction in any direction you want. Combined with the high off-axis coefficient of friction of non-omni wheels, it's much harder to push a swerve drive around.


For a poorly designed swerve drive, high unexpected lateral loads will simply break it.