Drive Wheels

[Justin Shelley]

Our team used a 6wd pneumatic drive train this year. We had a horrible time turning but when sideways we were practically unmovable.
I was wondering what other teams have had the best luck with in terms of traction and mobility. Thanks for any and all help/info

[ehfeinberg]

Many teams have great luck with similar conditions which you described. With your 6WD, did you happen to lower the center pair of wheels at all?

With your question, many teams have been having great success with the new vexpro versa wheels. Teams also have great success with colson wheels.

[Walter Deitzler]

Originally Posted by Justin Shelley

Our team used a 6wd pneumatic drive train this year. We had a horrible time turning but when sideways we were practically unmovable.
I was wondering what other teams have had the best luck with in terms of traction and mobility. Thanks for any and all help/info

3284 from Camdenton, MO, and 2337 from Michigan were to the two best examples I have seen yet that offer both traction and turning.

3397 was more maneuverable than pushy, but we could push in a pinch.

[Justin Shelley]

We lowered our middle wheels like you're supposed to in a 6wd WCD drivetrain but for some reason it didn't help out much

[Teamcodeorange]

If you insist on pneumatic tires, you must have (very) dropped center wheels to turn well at the wheel's specified pressure.

[Walter Deitzler]

Originally Posted by Justin Shelley

We lowered our middle wheels like you're supposed to in a 6wd WCD drivetrain but for some reason it didn't help out much

How much was the drop? I saw you were going with pneumatic wheels this year, and, if the drop was not big enough, it could cause turning problems.

[ehfeinberg]

Originally Posted by Justin Shelley

We lowered our middle wheels like you're supposed to in a 6wd WCD drivetrain but for some reason it didn't help out much

How much? Were all of your pneumatic tires also always fully inflated?

With Pneumatic wheels you might have to lower the center wheel more because the weight of the robot will cause your center wheel to squish (and lower the rest of the robot), thus eliminating some of the drop you added.

If you also were to deflate your outside wheels slightly, you should also notice a increase in mobility.

Edit: looks like the people above me came to the same conclusion

[Justin Shelley]

Originally Posted by LedLover96

How much was the drop? I saw you were going with pneumatic wheels this year, and, if the drop was not big enough, it could cause turning problems.

We realize our drop wasn't big enough for the pneumatic wheels this will be fixed for off season

[Justin Shelley]

Originally Posted by ehfeinberg

How much? Were all of your pneumatic tires also always fully inflated?

With Pneumatic wheels you might have to lower the center wheel more because the weight of the robot will cause your center wheel to squish (and lower the rest of the robot), thus eliminating some of the drop you added.

If you also were to deflate your outside wheels slightly, you should also notice a increase in mobility.

We tried playing with the air pressure but it never made a noticeable difference in maneuverability

[ehfeinberg]

Originally Posted by Justin Shelley

We realize our drop wasn't big enough for the pneumatic wheels this will be fixed for off season

Just so other teams don't run into the same conclusion, what exactly was your drop? 1/8th? 3/16th?

[Justin Shelley]

Originally Posted by ehfeinberg

Just so other teams don't run into the same conclusion, what exactly was your drop? 1/8th? 3/16th?

I'll measure tomorrow to be for sure but I believe it was about 3/16th of an inch

[Walter Deitzler]

Originally Posted by Justin Shelley

We realize our drop wasn't big enough for the pneumatic wheels this will be fixed for off season

What off-season events are you going to? I would love to see you guys at some!

[Justin Shelley]

Originally Posted by LedLover96

What off-season events are you going to? I would love to see you guys at some!

We are in the makings of hosting our very own off season event in August this year and would love to see you there!

very likely will be at cowtown also

[Walter Deitzler]

Originally Posted by Justin Shelley

We are in the makings of hosting our very own off season event in August this year and would love to see you there!

very likely will be at cowtown also

Awesome! We should be attending CTTD, and, if you get me info, Farmington is close enough to St. Louis that we could make our way down there fairly easily. PM me the details when you have them figured out, we would love to attend!

[Anupam Goli]

After using both AM plaction and vexpro traction wheels now, I'm confident in saying that I love the vexpro traction wheels. I don't know what performance boost we would get from using the versa wheels over the Traction wheels with extra grip SBR black roughtop from McMaster, so I think we'll be sticking with these champs.