Team worried about robot tipping while crossing rail.

[ksafin]

6 wheel drive.
you're doing it wrong.

but on a more serious note:
It's very weird how you did your 6 wheel drive; it looks like you leveled the wheels all out evenly?

Middle wheel should be ever so slightly lower so it can grip the floor and provide the actual movement by a motor, back and front wheels should be dead. Wither front or back will touch the floor depending on movement, so no more than 4 wheels will be on the floor at all times (middle and either front or back).

[the man]

Wait why only have 4 touching at once? This seems to be counterproductive. Why not just use a 4 wheel drive at that point?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by the man

Wait why only have 4 touching at once? This seems to be counterproductive. Why not just use a 4 wheel drive at that point?

Because if you're using a 4WD, your robot bounces all over the place when trying to turn.

The 6WD gives six wheels either contacting or skimming the ground with a shorter wheelbase, which allows for much better turning.

[the man]

Humm, I see. I did not know that. That is very interesting. We have never attempted a 4 or 6 wheel normal drive, except for lunacy and that doesn't count. We used mechanums fro 2010. I will definitely keep this in mind for the future.

[akoscielski3]

Originally Posted by the man

Wait why only have 4 touching at once? This seems to be counterproductive. Why not just use a 4 wheel drive at that point?

4 wheels will only be touching at one time. HOWEVER, that does not mean that the 2 other wheels wont be used. Throughout the match all 6 wheels would have been used. Lets say you are acceleration forward, so that means that your middle and back wheels will be touching. The you stop, now your robot wants to keep going, so your front and middle wheels are now touching instead of your back. The middle wheels also act as the pivot point. With 4 wheel drive it is harder to turn if not done properly. If you have all six wheels on the ground at once than it is extremely hard to turn.

Hope that helps explain it

[JewishDan18]

In addition to what others have said, ideally you would have all 6 wheels powered. In addition for better results in pushing matches, I don't see making it over the barrier to easily without them all powered.

[StealthMentor]

The think tank has some good articles, and videos. This one explains the turning problems with having your driven wheels far apart, center of gravity and other useful information. I would suggest giving it a watch it is worth it.

http://thinktank.wpi.edu/article/8

[teh_lol]

I don't know if it would help but it seems that you could possibly lower the base with electronics on it, lowering the center of gravity. That would probably make you a little harder to tip.