Pneumatic Wheels -> Too Much Traction

[OldDan1168]

Hello all,

Our bot drives on four Skyway pneumatic wheels driven by two drill motors. The drive train is solid but today we tested for the first time on carpet (previously we tested on a harder surface). The carpet-rubber combo proved to be a ton of traction and our bot cannot turn very well at all. We really need to do something about it. We can only turn perhaps pi/6 radians on a dry turn (without any forward momentum). We need to be able to turn more than this to attain better maneuverability. Obviously we could pump up the tires to breaking point to minimize contact between carpet and rubber and thus minimize traction, but that won't do all that much, really.

We have been considering possibly fabricating plastic sheathes for the wheels to reduce traction by a ton, or else totally covering the tires in tape or some sort of metal. The problem is that a lot of these sound illegal. Could anyone clear up the rules here?

Also, if you have any ideas that I haven't mentioned, Team 1168 Malvern Prep (and our Friarbot) would really really appreciate your input!

Please respond asap!

Good luck during crunch time!
Captain Dan
http://www.friarbot.com please sign our guestbook while you're at it