pic: Stuypulse team 694's Bot

[Ianworld]

Originally Posted by MASherry

nice bot! just wondering what type of stering you guys were using, b/c our team is using tank turning and we ran into a problem with the pneumatic wheels gripping too much. How did u solve that problem? Can u guys hang?

We do have a turning problem. An hour more of work and we will have replaced the kit wheels with our own custom wheels. We covered the wheels in velcro and then have sets of treads which velcro on. The one we'll probably use has a very low side to side coefficient of friction and a very high forward back coefficient of friction plus his ridges to help climb steps and lips easier. So we are sorta of doing a whole redesign.

The poor traction of the kit wheels were something we took into account when we decided what to make. They're designed for wheechairs which usually have two casters. The result is that they have a very high side to side friction(just look at the tread). Its going to be a big problem for first teams this years. You can cover one set(forward or back) in a slippery substance and it should allow you to turn, but you'll lose the traction those wheels provide which could cause a problem going up the lip.

As for hanging, we can hang the robot pulled itself off the ground to weigh itself today. We do have a bad habit of breaking a piece of our extender turned out the veclro that the hook sticks to the tip of the extender with was stronger than the extender's wood. So we're hardening that up so we don't have to replace it every match.

~Ian