Mecanum vs The Barrier

[mesamb1]

Originally Posted by Charmander

After reading all the posts so far, it seems that more people believe the mecanum wheels will be able to handle it. Would it be wise to put in the money (and weight) to buy the 10 inch heavy duty wheels over the 8 inch wheels?

Depends on the rest of your robot. If you need a low center of gravity, or to be close to the ground to pick up balls I would stick with 8"(My team has the 8" and I am unable convince our students not to use them). but if your have other factors that would need a ten get them.

[EOC]

Originally Posted by ratdude747

maybe the uber-heavy 10" steel plated mecanums... those would hold up...

http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-0298.htm

keep in mind they are HEAVY....

That's 52 pounds of wheels!!!!!

[mjgard]

Any concerns with the Mecanum wheels getting over the bridges? Is there going to be enough traction to climb the bridge enough to get on it and over it so you can cross or balance it?

[T Wallas Pog]

We have used the same mecanums without replacing any rollers for two years now. They have been over the Breakaway bumps and driven on asphalt during many fairs and celebrations and they are still working as good as ever.

[fortinj1354]

Originally Posted by ratdude747

maybe the uber-heavy 10" steel plated mecanums... those would hold up...

http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-0298.htm

keep in mind they are HEAVY....

Those go over the $400 individual part price limit.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by ratdude747

http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-0298.htm

Interesting how the wheels are mounted in the video.

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by fortinj1354

Those go over the $400 individual part price limit.

I'm curious whether [R17] applies to a set of 4 mecanum wheels. They are available for $180 each, which would be legal under [R14]. However, a single mecanum wheel isn't very useful by itself, so [R17] might make them illegal.

[joek]

buy them individually.

we had no problems with mechanum in 2010, just with everything else falling apart... the bumps were hard on it. depending on your strategy, there may be no need to cross the bump. however, the bridges will be fairly slippery.

i've been toying with the idea of having a pair of powered kop wheels that could be pushed down when needed, and lifted off the ground when not. I figure that they would overcome the mechanum's lack of traction, while still allowing strafing when not in use.

[Mandelbrot]

Originally Posted by Ether

Interesting how the wheels are mounted in the video.

Ha ha! Impressive that you noticed.

[syquest]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

I'm curious whether [R17] applies to a set of 4 mecanum wheels. They are available for $180 each, which would be legal under [R14]. However, a single mecanum wheel isn't very useful by itself, so [R17] might make them illegal.

Yeah, there should be no problem with buying a set of 4 since they are individual parts. It would be no different than buying something in bulk to save money. Even if you consider two wheels a set (Left and Right), you are still at $360.

I think the real concern is weight. With the SIMs you have invested a huge amount of your weight allowance on your drive train. Still tempting

[bmlarson12]

Our robot in 2010 not only could get over the bump at high speeds with rough mecanums, but also seemed to have better traction than the high traction wheels. We were able to win against any other robot in a pushing contest unless they had the same wheels. I also noticed other teams with rough mecanum wheels outpushing most robots. Things can shake loose if you don't use locking nuts and lock-tight, but that was not a problem for us.

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by fortinj1354

Those go over the $400 individual part price limit.

no they don't. you are buying 4 wheels.

all AM 4 wheel mecanum sets are over $400... and people have been using the sets legally for years under the same $400 rule...

[Ether]

Originally Posted by ratdude747

all AM 4 wheel mecanum sets are over $400...

Not.

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by Ether

Not.

oops... memory fails me.

I wonder why I remember them costing more...

[mdiradoorian]

barrier for the win