Snow Machine Tracks

[russell]

Background: Ok, my team (from Alaska) is trying to design a robot for a non FIRST activity. It will need to cover outdoor terrain, travel quite a long way (half mile at least), and travel in all weather (if there is any snow it will be well packed). There wont be that much in the way of restrictiosn as far as power sources (gensets should be ok), weight, etc. Just keep in mind we have to have a motor controller that can handle enough power for the motors. Our team will have a set of 18v Dewalts, and no real machine shop type tools other than a grinder, a wood bandsaw that we messed around with to make it cut metal, and a little drill press.

So this one sort of mentor type guy and his son came up with the idea that we should use tracks. Maybe snowblower tracks. Then they got an even "better" idea: lets take a snow machine track and split it and use that. The idea jus seems plain bad to me, but I cant really find the words to express my dislike for it. Anyone got thoughts? I just cant see how we could possibly get enough power to drive such a thing, and how we would ever be able to build a track drive system from scratch using a sawzall and hand drill. Anyone who has ever tried to make a sprocket using a sawzall and a welder (not that its not a fun way to waste a few hours) will probably know what im talking about.

Am I way off the mark on this, or is this really not a good idea?

[Jack Jones]

robotcombat.com used to sell some snow blower tracks (cheap because they were for a discontinued snow blower) but they don't appear to have them any more.

Team #519 used them in the '04 season. There was another team I saw that used them also. 519, as I remember, had problems with them. On the other hand, the other team looked to be using them effectively. The difference may have been that 519 used them like a tank would - IE full and only contact with the ground - while the other team had them on the front with regular wheels and tires on the back. I think they double rotated, something like the front treads on a PACBOT.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

It doesn't sound like a totally bad idea to me. There are significant problems to face, one being just cutting the track. I don't know what the size/weight of your vehicle but you need to consider that a tracked device with no other steering requires a lot of power for turns. As for speed controllers, I believe IFI does make another line of controllers designed for a higher voltage. If they don't, search around, there are other companies building controllers. In your application, tracks may be better at distributing the weight of your vehicle on the surface it drives across. The down side of using tracks is that they fall off if the design doesn't account for the side forces in turns. Once you lose a track, you're done. Obviously, there are designs that keep all of these issues in check and work perfectly OK. I wouldn't turn down the idea just yet. A little investigation is in order. BTW, where exactly is the competition going to be held? I spent a few days around Anchorage this summer.

[artdutra04]

You don't have to use metal snow machine tracks - there are also rubber tank tracks. The only downside of these is that they are a bit on the expensive side. Here is a picture of them from the 7-Up vending machine that was made by M5 Industries (a.k.a. the Mythbusters crew).



Photo from: http://www.m5industries.com/html/portfolio/7up.htm

[sburro]

You can try what we did last year. Chain.

http://www.wcsrobotics.com/multi.htm

[Bill_Hancoc]

What about snowmobile tracks depending on how big the bot has to be.
if not my next suggestion would be try to argue the snowblower treads.

[coastertux]

If this is a FIRST sized robot, snowmobile tracks would probably be too big/heavy. I'm sure you can find various sizes and weights.

[Andrew Blair]

Hey, with experience from the one of worst snowbelts inside the snowbelt(Buffalo beats us), you don't need tracks, and considering your resources would be better off without them.** In my opinion**. I also think treads look cool however. Here's the dealio. We own a snowblower with heavily treaded wheels that have navigated the deepest snow with relative ease. They are a heavy tread (3/4" knobs) but they would be far easier to turn, cheaper to obtain, easier to implement, be capable of a higher rate of speed, and be easier to maintenance than a comparable tread system. And as it is, you said that the trails would be packed, so it shouldn't be a problem.


<< Similar to this. You can get lots of different treads, and their pretty cheap too, considering a track.