How are teams mounting drivetrain encoders on WCD?

[ollien]

Originally Posted by Thad House

I think think another trick is making sure you put the encoder on the weighted wheels. That way you don't have to worry about chain tension, and the encoder should always be touching the ground, at least in most cases. Another thing some teams do is preload their chains. Instead of pushing your robot forward into its starting position, push it too far forward, and then pull back. This will preload the chains to they are tensioned in the right direction for moving forward, which helps reduce shock loads.

Hate to ask such a stupid question (my team has never used chain. Only belts and even then only for the DT), but here goes.

A) What do you mean by the "weighted" wheel? Do you mean the dropped wheels?

B) What do you mean by preloading chain? How would this help? You said something about moving the robot forward and then back, but I don't understand how this would help.

Thanks so much!