2012 drivetrain

[Siri]

Originally Posted by JesseK

There is a very basic paper that explains why a drop-center wheel (or set of wheels) is totally unnecessary for wide-drive robots at or near the max robot base dimensions.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/1443

Orientation is just as critical in these responses as # of wheels. .

4WD Tank, Wide Drive.

True, It's not important for turning. That doesn't means it has no use. In fact extra wheels can provide many useful benefits, especially in non-flat field years.

We went with 4-wheel swerve (fully independent drive and steering). It's a great drivetrain, but you do have to compensate for things like hanging off the bridge/even close to the edge and managing ball control while maintaining workable geometry for the Barrier. Definitely doable (we did, though all our official triple balances have been as the middle robot), but extra axles definitely have their benefit.