What drivetrain style are you using?

[Mike Nawrot]

I'm curious about the ratios of omni directional to tank drive this year. In the past, tank steering has been the standard for all but a handful of teams. This year's game seems to open a huge door for omni directional drive trains though. So what kind of drive train are you using?

[Blue_Mist]

So far, the plan is six-wheeled tank, but with the middle set of wheels moved back 3.5 inches since the weight moved back so much for this year's design. Most of the components are on the back half of the robot with the giant trackball in front. We did consider, then tossed out mecanum drive (with regrets) since our apparatus is an elevator after a long history of arms, and the general consensus was try to keep the design to one new element per year.

[TheOtherGuy]

We planned at first to go with Ackermann, but once we got our previous year's 6WD working with Ackermann controls, we abandoned it for the traditional 6WD. So we have a 6WD that drives like an Ackermann...

[=Martin=Taylor=]

6 wheels.

This game will involve a great deal of turning and maneuvering to capture track balls.

It isn't as easy as "go straight turn left."

[Graham Donaldson]

Our first two years were four-wheels, last year we ventured into the realm of six wheels, and it worked pretty well. THis year, we're going with rear drive wheels and casters in the front. We'll see how it works...

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by robotcanuck1676

Our first two years were four-wheels, last year we ventured into the realm of six wheels, and it worked pretty well. THis year, we're going with rear drive wheels and casters in the front. We'll see how it works...

Yikes, based on my experience, you hit the nail on teh head with 6WD... 2WD w/ casters has never worked out well for me

[Qbranch]

Dualie traction wheels in the centers, dualie omni wheels on the corners, all driven.

I think a 6wd drivetrain is going to be pretty much the best bet in terms of weight/performance balance, and it's ability to hold on in a tight turn.

-q

[Super Serb]

we are using a flying saucer...

[Daniel_LaFleur]

4 wheel drive high traction skid steer, driving 36" wide.

Excellent ability to hold our line in a high speed tight turn

Should be a fun competition, and I expect a very wide variety of robots there

[1619Aaron]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

Yikes, based on my experience, you hit the nail on teh head with 6WD... 2WD w/ casters has never worked out well for me

Ditto my friend. In 2005 we had that design. Our robot swung all over the place. You have no finite control.

[mastercadman]

we are going with omni with 4 wheels at 45 degrees to the sides

[Brian J. R.]

For our second bot ever, we are attempting a holonomic with casters on the corners to keep it stable when we use our lift. (how can casters keep anything stable one might ask....)

[CharlieW.]

Team 1189 is using a 6 WD design with the 8 in. Andy Marks performance wheels. We'll be using 4 CIM motors and super shifters to provide power.

[Billfred]

This year will see the Capitals running an improved version of last year's kitbot 6WD, reasons being:

a) We don't have the tooling or the manpower to get all uber-fancy
b) A judicious application of AndyMark products met our needs,
c) We liked what we saw last year.

[DarkFlame145]

Originally Posted by 1619Aaron

Ditto my friend. In 2005 we had that design. Our robot swung all over the place. You have no finite control.

In 05 we only had 2 drive wheels in the middle and then we had 4 ball casters in the corners, it was a good design imo. We could turn on a dim and it just worked well.