pic: Off-Season Custom Wheel

[cadandcookies]

Very cool wheel! Do you have the resources to fabricate these or are they just a thought exercise?

I'm also curious about what features you've designed into it to make it more optimal for a chain drive?

With regards to custom wheels, here are my opinions on them:
Custom wheels aren't something you do because they'll save you time. They're something you do for the journey along the way-- the experience of designing and manufacturing them. They're a mountain that you climb because it is there. With modern COTS wheels, there just aren't very many situations where custom is a competitive advantage when it comes to wheels. This makes them perfect for an offseason project.

With regards to your questions, I'd ask how these compare to your targets-- are they cheaper than comparable COTS products? How much better are they for chain? Did you achieve your goals? If not, how can you reach them?

Best of luck with your project.

[JVN]

Looks good!

What material are you looking at making these out of?
If you're thinking aluminum -- I suspect the hub in the center is over-designed.
If you're thinking plastic -- I suspect the "spokes" are under-designed.

You can also probably get away with only (3) sprocket attachment holes.

You should consider some form of piloting feature to keep the sprocket concentric with the wheel (or cheat, and use the bearing to pilot the sprocket).

Why did you decide to go 4"+tread? I think you should consider making the wheel 4" at the OD of the tread. This way if you have robot turning issues, or need to swap in some COTS omni-wheels or other traction wheels in a few places you'll have options. (This has 100% happened to me in the past... being able to swap wheels around has saved my butt several times).

Keep going. You've got plenty of time for more iterations before you need to make these for realsies.