Removing Bosch Drill Pins - Cause of Failure?

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by Kevin Ray

We had treads last year and when we wanted to dead-recon turn by stopping one tread and continuing forward with the other, the bot had so little resistance on the stopped side (no backwalk pins) that it continued to roll forward and not turn at all.

Kevin,
I think what you were up against is the extreme friction produced by tank treads. Even with the speed controllers set to brake, there is not enough force to hold back the non-moving side. You have to visualize the transfer of forces as the robot tries to turn and that the treads are trying to slide sideways as well. Tank treads are OK for certain games but they are bad if you want manuerverability and low current demand. If you look at the Innovation First site I think they still have a paper showing the currents generated by different drive systems. You can't stop a tank but you can't turn it on carpet either.