Turning problems?

[JustbeingJFK]

When driving our robot, we had problems with turning because we have 4 wheels this year and not 6 wheels. I think we used the wheels from the KOP but I am not sure. When turning it, the turn is very bumpy and not as smooth as we would like. How can we fix this? Can we do it fast at competition? Would it affect programming? Thank you.

[Akash Rastogi]

Do you have a picture? 1st cause is usually that your wheelbase is too long, but other things can factor in.

Please post some pics or details if you can.

[Garrett.d.w]

I will assume that you are having turning problems because your wheelbase is too long. The simplest solution to the four wheel turning curse is to put omni wheels on one half of your drivetrain. There are no special modifications required, assuming that there is nothing special with your setup.

http://www.andymark.com/Omni-s/51.htm

[JustbeingJFK]

this is a picture of just the chassis

[Akash Rastogi]

Yeah your wheelbase is just way too long. Without a 6 wheel drive, you'll just have to swap in the front or back with some omni wheels as Garrett said. Shouldn't take you too long to swap wheels. Make sure you leave the omni's driven by the belts.

Also, are you only running two CIMs in your drive?

[dchartley]

We are running a very similar setup. Are you using tank drive? That has worked well for us. We were not a fast as some other robots at a scrimmage we attended but we were able to push them easily.

Doug

[JustbeingJFK]

when I took the photo it had 2 cims but now it was 4 cims . I don't think we are doing tank drive.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by JustbeingJFK

when I took the photo it had 2 cims but now it was 4 cims . I don't think we are doing tank drive.

Okay sounds good. Just swap in the omni wheels and you should be good to go.

In order to help your team in the future, this will help you understand why you can't turn with a long wheelbase. http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/1443

[JustbeingJFK]

ok. Thank you