going off the ledge

[greencactus3]

today we finally got our wheels mounted. (whew, took a while). i tried pushing the robot... basicly a frame with wheels... two of them mounted only temporarily. well anyways, when i pushed it off a 6 inch ledge, it bounced like crazy for a couple feet. really. a couple feet!! in the playing field, we'd be crashing against the fence. and im pretty sure our robot, when it gets to be self propelled, it would be faster than the speed i pushed it off at.
oh yeah, forgot to say, we're using the kit 12 inch pneumatic tires.
for now, our robot isn't even close to 130 lbs. haven't weighed it but guessing its still less than 60lbs. im sure adding weight will help it a bit, but is there any really good ideas how to stop it from bouncing around?

everyone, it would probably be a very good idea to take care that the electronic stuff won't get loose. with speed, thats alot of pounding on your robot.

yeah, and ive considered releasing a bit of air from the tires. but im worried the tire might come off the wheel. is that possible? if it is, is there agood way to make sure it doesn't happen?

[ngreen]

I'd say zip ties....but that just me.

[OneAngryDaisy]

I have seen teams partially deflate skyway wheels for better traction (more area rubbing against the carpet) so you could definitely do that.. also, i'd put a weight on the frame to test, max it out at 130, i doubt it would bounce, plus your drivers should have enough common sense not to fly it off the ledge, even though that would be mad cool

[greencactus3]

Originally Posted by OneAngryDaisy

I have seen teams partially deflate skyway wheels for better traction (more area rubbing against the carpet) so you could definitely do that.. also, i'd put a weight on the frame to test, max it out at 130, i doubt it would bounce, plus your drivers should have enough common sense not to fly it off the ledge, even though that would be mad cool

we probably don't want any more traction for now.....
AHA! testing it with a weight. good idea. how come i didn't think of it before. duh.
and about the common sense? doesn't apply to us... seriously, we are the team who thinks the person who can extend a tape measure out in the air longest without bending is the guy (we don't have any girls on the team..) who has the most skillful hands and the guy who can do a kickflip on a 8by8 piece of wood with 4 castors on it is king.

[NateBot16]

Extending a measuring tape the longest is a very serious deal. During random points during the day, we just have competitions for it. Thats not really that unsual, I think.

You could always limit the power of the motors to make the bot go a little slower, that might help. But adding weight is definatly the first place to go.

[Josh Fritsch]

This year our electronics sub-team is going to be using the screw in ring-terminals instead of the push-on kind. This i think is going to help in preventing any loose wires on our robot, especially the important ones,