3048's tri-lobe drive train and a video request?

[Dave Hurt]

So I thought I would show off our drive train. We competed at Arizona West last week and were plagued by problems, both on and off the field, but when things worked we went over defenses in a spectacular fashion. And a request, if anyone happens to have any video from a match we were in? I'd be very interested in seeing them. Thanks!

And also a big thank you to the guys from 987 for all the help throughout the event, as well as all the other people who stopped by to help that I'm forgetting! It's just a reminder why I like First so much!

[twetherbee]

Dave,

You're very welcome. We were glad to help. That tri-lobe design was really creative.

Here's a few links to videos on YouTube for you:

Qual Match 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkPH_4DeLtc
Saturday Matches (no sound)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa-A...&nohtml5=False

Keep inspiring!!!

Trent

[TheModMaster8]

Originally Posted by Dave Hurt

So I thought I would show off our drive train. We competed at Arizona West last week and were plagued by problems, both on and off the field, but when things worked we went over defenses in a spectacular fashion. And a request, if anyone happens to have any video from a match we were in? I'd be very interested in seeing them. Thanks!

And also a big thank you to the guys from 987 for all the help throughout the event, as well as all the other people who stopped by to help that I'm forgetting! It's just a reminder why I like First so much!

EDIT: ( didn't see the third wheel there lol, ours is a pit different)
My team actual used the exact same drive train as yours. we also breezed over the static defense, when the chain didn't fall off that is you might be able to see it in action on TBA
http://imgur.com/pZGcNV7
http://imgur.com/ocgBgIM (this is when it was unfinished though )

[Fauge7]

as the team next to you in the pit (3019) it was actually a very interesting design! I wish I got to talk to your team or help!

[thedude019]

Team 2399 used the same concept. Easily my favorite creative drive system.

[GeeTwo]

Beautiful sheet metal work on the tri-wheels, and nice staggering of the front and rear to reduce the spacing between the chassis plates.

What's the relative gearing between the 4" wheels and the "metawheels"? It seems to me that you'd have to gear very low for the metawheel axle and back up for the individual ones.

How does it handle on level carpet? It looks like a bear to turn (long wheelbase and narrow track).

I see that you are using KoP chassis inner plates, inverted to get the drive axle higher (and the motors lower). Why did you use a AM14Ux inner plate as the outer plate? The flange would be part of your frame perimeter, making bumper mounting more difficult. It looks like all of the pre-drilled holes you used are in both plates.

Are those brackets on the top front to mount bumpers? It looks like they'd be more than 12" off the carpet when the metawheels are rotated to the high position (so that there are only four wheels on the carpet). Is that an optical illusion?

[Dave Hurt]

When we had all our motors working and no issues with belts or hubs, it actually turned fairly well (in the video we had a speed controller that came unplugged, so we were running on 3 of 4 motors, made life difficult). If we had more time and parts to do it, I wanted to try swapping the front wheels out for omni wheels to see how much that reduced our load while turning. As for gearing, I don't remember... a couple of our students did all the design work for it and they figured the gear ratios. The total height of the wheel assembly was 9", so the tabs you're referring to were the top of our bumper, so even with the wheels rotated, we weren't that tall. On flat ground, our wheels never really rotated, so height wasn't an issue. It would be very uncommon for us to have all 4 wheels rotating at once. As for the flange, our bumpers rested on them. We didn't get dinged in inspection for it...