Tank treads for "white" 2013 KOP wheels

[Grim Tuesday]

We use and have used tank treads every year since 2006 except for 2009.

Here's a video of this year's robot, you can see them in action

In essence, we use what IKE posted, the Brecoflex conveyor belts. We drive the drive cog (supplied by Brecoflex, machined to be lighter by us) with VEX Pro Ball Shifters. This is the only point that is actually driven, the rest of the tread is held on with delrin idlers. They spin freely on their axles and most are affixed. The center one is dropped (1/8 or 3/16, I forget but it's more than 1/16) and the back one is in a channel so the treads can be tensioned.

I'd be more than happy to answer any more questions you or anyone has about tread based drives and I can provide CAD. In fact, we posted our CAD from last year on FRC-Designs and this year's drive system is nearly identical.