4 wheels v. 6 Wheels

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Joshua Sicz

My team has done 6 wheels the past 4 years of the frc season. Last year we used 4 6'' treaded metal wheels with 2 6'' dual omni wheels. This year we are debating to only use 4 6'' treaded wheels instead of 6. We need more onions on what are the benefits of each one are. Teams that have experience in both would help. Thanks!

I'm presuming that your setup last year looked like this:

T - T - O
|--------|
T - T - O

If you'd dropped the center wheel sufficiently, the omniwheel did nothing for you. If you didn't drop the center wheel, the omniwheel made it possible for your robot to turn.

If you were to instead build a drive that looked like this:

T - - - T
|-------|
T - - - T

...you'll likely find that you're unable to turn effectively.

You should not make decisions based upon opinion. You should strive to understand the science that led to the prevalence of 6WD robots in FRC and extrapolate the answers to your questions from that.

In your case -- the important factors to consider are the wheelbase, the available torque at the wheels and the coefficient of friction between your wheels and the carpet. With that information, you can calculate whether or not the drive you're contemplating will work.