What are the best wheels to use on carpet?

[The GarbageMan]

My team has had major problems with our wheels this year. We are using 4 wheel drive, skid steering with the wheels that came in the kit of parts and we can not turn the robot on the carpet. We are now going to the nations and I want to buy new wheels that sovle that problem. Does any one know what wheels go best on carpet?
Thanks

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Take a look at some of these threads. Feel free to play around with the search feature until you find what you need.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/se...earchid=861333

Good luck!

[IndySam]

Buy some AndyMark molded omni wheels for the front and your good-to-go!

[sanddrag]

There is no "best wheels" There are a lot of other factors. What you are experiencing is too long of a wheelbase, too narrow of a track width, too much traction, or any combination of the above. Many teams use 6 wheels, with the center ones lower, so only 2 or 4 can be on the ground at a time. Some teams use omni wheels on one end. Some teams use high traction wheels and low traction wheels. Watch some robots, see if you like how they drive, then find out why they drive so nicely. There is no clean and simple best.

[Bharat Nain]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

There is no "best wheels" There are a lot of other factors. What you are experiencing is too long of a wheelbase, too narrow of a track width, too much traction, or any combination of the above. Many teams use 6 wheels, with the center ones lower, so only 2 or 4 can be on the ground at a time. Some teams use omni wheels on one end. Some teams use high traction wheels and low traction wheels. Watch some robots, see if you like how they drive, then find out why they drive so nicely. There is no clean and simple best.

I have to agree. There is no "best wheel", but there are better wheels than those in the kit of parts. It all depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you want you robot to be very maneuverable, using a combination of omni-wheels will help. For traction, the IFI traction wheels are good. We have had success with Skyway Bead-Lok wheels by custom cutting them. Another factor is the setup of your chassis. 4 wheel or six wheel - middle wheel lowered or kept at the same height. These are all decisions you need to make depending on what your objective is. If you are at the championship, I would suggest you check out different drive bases teams have built. By talking to them, you can learn a whole lot of principles and concepts they used. Additionally, check out all the pictures and threads about robots on CD. There are also many white papers written on building a successful drive base. Good luck.

[SgtMillhouse648]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

There is no "best wheels" There are a lot of other factors. What you are experiencing is too long of a wheelbase, too narrow of a track width, too much traction, or any combination of the above. Many teams use 6 wheels, with the center ones lower, so only 2 or 4 can be on the ground at a time. Some teams use omni wheels on one end. Some teams use high traction wheels and low traction wheels. Watch some robots, see if you like how they drive, then find out why they drive so nicely. There is no clean and simple best.

Very true. It all depends on the style of steering on which wheels you should use. We use 4inch high traction, but they go through about a 9:1 reduction from the CIM motors driving them and we use a coordinated steering on top of an electronic differential to minimize slippage. Maybe you could try using traction wheels on one end and omnis on the other? We have never really used skid so I dont know what will work the best. I think with the 2 and 2 you can get traction along with manuverability because of the omnis, but I dont know.

Good luck
Malhon

[Gabe]

Since the question is "best on carpet", my answer would be 1" IFI wheels with natural rubber tread. These seem to offer the best combination of weight, traction, durability, and price. Anything wider than 1" and turning suffers.

[kramarczyk]

Originally Posted by The GarbageMan

My team has had major problems with our wheels this year. We are using 4 wheel drive, skid steering with the wheels that came in the kit of parts and we can not turn the robot on the carpet. We are now going to the nations and I want to buy new wheels that sovle that problem. Does any one know what wheels go best on carpet?
Thanks

You are looking for this white paper... "Drivetrain Basics (How to Be Sure Your Robot Will Turn)" - by Chris Hibner
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/1443

I laid out a spreadsheet to do the math and allow you to plug in different wheels for both front and rear.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/1917

[John Gutmann]

Originally Posted by Gabe

Since the question is "best on carpet", my answer would be 1" IFI wheels with natural rubber tread. These seem to offer the best combination of weight, traction, durability, and price. Anything wider than 1" and turning suffers.

1" Diameter Wheels!?!?!?

[Gabe]

You know what I mean... 1" wide wheels!

[John Gutmann]

I knew what you mean, I just thought I would screw with you a little.