Andy Mark Tribot - on my Christmas list

[Foster]

I saw the new AndyMark Tribot Kit on the site. Looks pretty cool, does anybody have any experience with it? (I was also drawn to the item number 666 )

I remember seeing some tribots this year, is the AM kit patterned after them? Do the builders of the Breakaway tribots recommend them?

I have a VEX tribot I'm working with, so it would make a good companion for a big brother / little sister pairing. Nice thing will be that I'm hoping I can move the VEX controller and use Victors to drive the motors.

Thanks!

[wilsonmw04]

That is FUN! I might buy one for my team as a test bed for my programmers... this could be an awesome tool...

[Alan Anderson]

It's a cute little 'bot. I have played with the AndyMark demo unit several times. The program it had on it runs open loop, without using wheel encoders, so I had to pay close attention when driving it. I didn't try it with any significant weight on the wheels, so I don't know if that would make it easier or harder to keep it going straight when desired.

[,4lex S.]

These have been built as far back as I have been in FRC (2005) at least. They are traditionally known as Kiwi Drives among a smattering of other names.

[Tim Delles]

Originally Posted by ,4lex S.

These have been built as far back as I have been in FRC (2005) at least. They are traditionally known as Kiwi Drives among a smattering of other names.

They have actually been built for much longer than 2005... I know we tested this out back in 2003/2004 and we were by no means the first team to try this... We actually built this because of what we had seen from other teams.

As for how it drives under weight, it actually drives pretty well, given that the weight is all centralized. It does take some getting use to in order to drive it, very little power, but very maneuverable.

[Joe Ross]

Team 857 did it in 2002. That was the first I was aware of it. Picture: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/13490 Video of prototype: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho7OK7Ylvu0

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

Team 857 did it in 2002. That was the first I was aware of it. Picture: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/13490 Video of prototype: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho7OK7Ylvu0

Team 857 also came up with one of the coolest ways of controlling an Omni drive that I've ever seen. Really goes to show what a little creativity can do.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/16410