pic: 2996 Octocanum Prototype

[T3_1565]

Originally Posted by JesseK

You should provide a link. That type of drive train hasn't been seen since. It was really cool for its time, IMO.

I dont want to hijack the thread lol. Search 1565 Linkage if your interested.

I feel like these types of drives came from what that drive was. Opened up the door for pneumatics manipulating wheels. Before that it was only Swerve Drive.

[T3_1565]

I am curious though. Is there a reason that you need 4 cylinders to move the wheels? Can you put a push bar from 1 pod to another and use a wider diameter piston in the middle of the bot? That way you only need 2 pistons and less chance of there being problems with switching wheels?

As I said I'm old and not up to date on these drives lol. There may be a really easy reason why you need them seperate that I'm missing

[blazingbronco18]

Looks pretty cool. You guys got a video of it in action?

[Max Boord]

What was the reasoning for having the mecanum wheels on the outside? If you get into a head on pushing match you are likely to be tipped off of the colson wheels and onto the mecanums. Also why 6 inch mecanums over 4 inch mecanums and a belt or chain reduction to the colson wheels? It seems like that is the more conventional configuration and would allow for smaller and lighter packaging.

[Liquid_Science]

Originally Posted by JesseK

How does this drive train plan to handle bumpers?

This is just a prototype to test the octocanum theory. Presumably, bumpers would mount to the outside c-channel, and be reinforced at the 2 axles and the piston mounts as well. Bumpers would need some more thought and experimentation though.

[Liquid_Science]

Originally Posted by blazingbronco18

Looks pretty cool. You guys got a video of it in action?

Not yet. We still have to get code on the robot and do some testing. But hopefully we will have some video by the end of build season.

[Liquid_Science]

Originally Posted by Max Boord

What was the reasoning for having the mecanum wheels on the outside? If you get into a head on pushing match you are likely to be tipped off of the colson wheels and onto the mecanums. Also why 6 inch mecanums over 4 inch mecanums and a belt or chain reduction to the colson wheels? It seems like that is the more conventional configuration and would allow for smaller and lighter packaging.

Honesty, the main reason is we had 6in mecanums lying around, and this is our first prototype; we just wanted to see what building a more complex drive train was like. But there have been some good points mentioned in the thread, and mine was if something went wrong, we would be able to default to casters.

[Liquid_Science]

Originally Posted by T3_1565

I am curious though. Is there a reason that you need 4 cylinders to move the wheels? Can you put a push bar from 1 pod to another and use a wider diameter piston in the middle of the bot? That way you only need 2 pistons and less chance of there being problems with switching wheels?

As I said I'm old and not up to date on these drives lol. There may be a really easy reason why you need them seperate that I'm missing

The biggest reason is it gives us some flexibility to try various other things later. This is just a prototype and will be our test bed for all things related to this drive. It isn't a huge difference to go with 2 or 4, and there are ups and downs for both.