Stress testing a Rhino

[sportzkrazzy]

Originally Posted by Malm

Quick question to the group:

The middle of the 3 wheels contacting the ground on the Rhino has an 0.15" dropped center. We were planning on keeping our center of gravity roughly over this axle, so when accelerating forward it should drive on the portion of the tread between the the back two wheels and when accelerating backwards it should drive on the tread between the front two wheels, shifting the center of rotation by about 9". Obviously we still need to do the actual T-bone test, but does anyone think that this shift in center of rotation would be significant enough to solve the problem of being permanently locked to another robot?

Think about it like this. If a robot Can hit both centers of rotation with the span of its front bumpers will you be able to spin off of it? How hard will it be for a defensive driver to line up on you? You can still experience these issues with a drop center wheeled drive as well. Just some food for thought.