pic: Track System

[Alpha 997]

Originally Posted by RTTComanche17

2. These belts break if (ab)used too much. Just ask 997. In their 6th qualifying match sat. morning at the championships, they were pushed from the side and a belt snapped, leaving one side of the robot disabled. they said it took an hour to change both belts.

Nah. The belts are fine. We made the mistake of trying to move away while being pushed side way. That's what killed the belts. If we just sit there and don't try to move, the belts won't get damaged at all. It didn't take an hour, more like half a hour. And that's because we had to get around our platforms.

[ChrisMcK2186]

My team is looking to find a decent drive system that will stay together and work well. Do you recomend this?

Chris

[sdcantrell56]

I would think that not being able to move when being pushed without snapping a belt would be a serious problem. I know our drivers drive away from people if they are in a pushing match to not lose time. Also snapping those belts and having to replace them costs a pretty good amount of money.

[pakratt1991]

actually it wasn't that bad, we can move while being pushed from the side with a normal team, but this was against a beefy drive train and the brecoflex belts have a steel whire running in them and rather then jump they snap... while some teams when being pushed from the side move sideways, we do not move at all. just something we have to deal with, next year this wont happen, we are improving the rollers

[Otaku]

670 was being pushed around left and right though, at SVR, Davis, and ATL.

I've thought about tank tread -- and while it is cool looking and works well, our team went with 4-wheel tank-style drive and haven't lost a pushing match once (well, maybe once to 1662...)

[M4 Sherman]

All hail the tank track! The tank track is the coolest drive train set up out there. (just look at the M4 Sherman)

But, its not cost effective, and they can be a bit slow and hard to turn. Just look at some of the new Military APCs that use a wheel system rather than tracks.

For these tracks, they turn just as good as a 6 wheel, and for a full drive system, only cost $1200.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by 114ManualLabor

For these tracks, they turn just as good as a 6 wheel, and for a full drive system, only cost $1200.

I'd debate the first half of your statement, but the second half is a little more interesting.

$1200? Maybe you just didn't elaborate, but that's illegal. There's a maximum price per component of $400. In addition there is now a rule that says entire subassemblies cannot be purchased from a vendor.

Given that the above is true, even if you split the system into two sides, you're looking at $600 per component, and you still have a complete subassembly, which clearly doesn't work with the 2007 rules.

I was under the impression teams using the tracks were all sponsored by Outback Manufacturing, not paying for the tracks. Could someone clear that up?

[Gabe]

The tracks cost $300 a piece (2x=$600), and the material is cost covered by the team ($600), while Sam does the machining for them. Since you are not purchasing a finished assembly, rather the costs associated with the manufacturing, they do not fall under the same rule.

[sdcantrell56]

$1200 seems a bit ridiculous for a drivetrain. Does that include transmissions, because I guess that would make it a little more comparable to a wheeled drivetrain.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Gabe

The tracks cost $300 a piece (2x=$600), and the material is cost covered by the team ($600), while Sam does the machining for them. Since you are not purchasing a finished assembly, rather the costs associated with the manufacturing, they do not fall under the same rule.

You are purchasing a finished assembly--an entire drive system.

We're talking about two different rules. You're talking about manufacturing costs. I'm talking about the fact that you cannot buy a completed subassembly under the 2007 robot rules, which is exactly what these tracks are.

[Alpha 997]

Originally Posted by Cory

You are purchasing a finished assembly--an entire drive system.

We're talking about two different rules. You're talking about manufacturing costs. I'm talking about the fact that you cannot buy a completed subassembly under the 2007 robot rules, which is exactly what these tracks are.

Actually these tracks are completely legal, we made sure of that. I don’t know about any other team, but for us, we did not purchase the track from outback. $1200 is the estimate for the cost of the material that made up the tracks, not how much we paid outback for the tracks. Outback, as our sponsor, then machined the track parts out of the material that we provided. They gave us the pieces that they machined, and then we assembled it together. We did not purchase anything from Outback. The AndyMark transmission were bought separately.

[pakratt1991]

You are purchasing a finished assembly--an entire drive system.

We're talking about two different rules. You're talking about manufacturing costs. I'm talking about the fact that you cannot buy a completed subassembly under the 2007 robot rules, which is exactly what these tracks are.

we ordered the belts seperatly so nothing cost more then the cost limit and theirfore they were legal, also the 600 dollars that we paid outback was for materials and he sponsored us the cost of machining.

[Alpha 997]

Originally Posted by Cory

You are purchasing a finished assembly--an entire drive system.

We're talking about two different rules. You're talking about manufacturing costs. I'm talking about the fact that you cannot buy a completed subassembly under the 2007 robot rules, which is exactly what these tracks are.

These tracks are by no means completed sub-assemblies, consider I personally assembled each track together from pieces and then built the drive train with them.

[kramarczyk]

Originally Posted by 114ManualLabor

For these tracks, they turn just as good as a 6 wheel...

Is this statement based upon something, like math, or just a subjective observation?