gliding wheels....

[George1902]

Originally Posted by Denman

our mentor suggested using the base of our crate for a cart

Just go to the store and buy a little red wagon. That should take care of your problems for now at least.

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by George1083

Just go to the store and buy a little red wagon. That should take care of your problems for now at least.

I concur. Team 57 went with the little red wagon cart this year. It had a custom built wood frame to support the robot and a really hot paintjob. We never quite managed to get the spinner rims installed, though....

Anyways, there's a large number of things you can use for a cart. If a little red wagon is still too big, get or make a 4-wheeled furniture mover. it's a square of flat 2x4's with four casters on it. Your cart can be as simple or fancy as you require it to be.

If you're still wanting to just push the robot around, get a couple of quick release connectors. Run the outputs of your speed controllers through these before they go to your motors and just pull them whenever you're going to push the robot around.

[Madison]

What you're describing on a bicycle is a one-way or Sprag clutch as Tytus already answered. These are a bad idea for your robot because they would only allow it to be powered in one direction; that is, you'd never be able to go in reverse.

I think you'll find it's much easier to build or buy a small cart than it is to engineer "neutral" into your drivetrain so that you may push it around.