Pneumatic Wheels vs Treads

[Conor Ryan]

Originally Posted by alecmuller

I asked Brecoflex for a quote earlier this week and they sent this guide. I'm not 100% sure on the pitch but I think their largest pulleys are 150mm diameter. Plus-side: they're estimating 2-day lead time!

Which backing material tread did you go with? PVC White Nub or T-Cover sounds to make the most sense for FRC.

[alecmuller]

Originally Posted by Conor Ryan

Which backing material tread did you go with? PVC White Nub or T-Cover sounds to make the most sense for FRC.

I've never actually ordered from them before (we still haven't placed our order), but Team 1619 recommended PVC Herringbone and SuperGrip Green (neither of which are on that PDF).

It probably also depends on your team's budget. If a set of treads doesn't need to last the entire competition season, then I'd go with PVC Blue for the "very high friction on smooth surfaces" or the Supergrip Blue. If the game is rough enough on the treads, though, then they might wear out 1 or more times and you'll need to buy spares (the ones with higher abrasion resistance but lower traction might save you from that, but there's no way to know other than experience).

[MrJohnston]

For what it's worth.... My kids saw the Rhino treads on AndyMark a couple days before the reveal video. (Yes, I have nerds on my team who spend their hours day-dreaming and reading about the newest robot parts as an entertaining way to pass time...) They were speculating that AndyMark had created them specifically for this game and wanted me to purchase them early -before the rush....Not wanting to drop $400 x 2 x 2 robots = $1600 for something we might not lose, I said we had to wait until we knew the game and our strategy and design teams had a chance to weigh in. Besides we had spent much of the training season perfecting our abilities to build a great mecanum system and had already invested in all the parts we might need to build either a 6 wheel tank drive or a mecanum drive - either with varying wheel sizes.

Of course.... Our strategy team passed the recommendation on to the designers that we wanted the Rhinos and the design team agreed... Checking online, it was now a potential 3 week delay. A lot happens on Saturday. We weighed the risks and agreed to pursue our other aspects of the robot first - besides there are quite a few game elements to build. Saturday night, we ordered the Rhinos for both our competition bot and the practice bot....

They arrived today?! It was like a second Christmas.....

Maybe we'll have a mecanum system next year...

[cbale2000]

Personally, I prefer option 3...

Wheels, Treads, or Wheels that act like Treads

[Munchskull]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

Personally, I prefer option 3...

Wheels, Treads, or Wheels that act like Treads

Certainly beats out treads that act like wheels. *cough* Plantation wheels *cough*

[The other Gabe]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

Personally, I prefer option 3...

Wheels, Treads, or Wheels that act like Treads

the last option is actually pretty great for teams that are unfamiliar with treads but want the benefits that treads give

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by The other Gabe

the last option is actually pretty great for teams that are unfamiliar with treads but want the benefits that treads give

It's also a lot more efficient and reliable than treads by a good margin. I'm waiting for the rude awakening many teams (especially newer teams) will have this year when they go to their first competitions without spare treads or extra batteries.

[Munchskull]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

It's also a lot more efficient and reliable than treads by a good margin. I'm waiting for the rude awakening many teams (especially newer teams) will have this year when they go to their first competitions without spare treads or extra batteries.

997 used to do a mean tread system...then the team realized that spending 300 per tread was not realistic.

[RoboChair]

I remember some teams use to use belt sander belts for tracks. There are very specific reasons you see the rules in the book that you do.