pic: AM Mecanum Chain Drive

[s_forbes]

I got to see (and drive!) the base the night the team got it mostly put together, so I may be able to answer some of the questions...

Originally Posted by techtiger1

Well I will say if your going to do mechanum's this looks like an easy and efficient way to do it. Did you guys modify the am single speeds at all for weight or anything? Ohh I'd like to know how the rollers held up.

-Drew

The transmissions weren't modified as far as I know; they just had longer bolts put through two of the holes to hold it on and together. The tensioner is just a nylon washer that is on the slot-mounted bolt. The chain is tensioned by tilting the transmissions back or forth.

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Is that an I beam as the frame?

Yep, fiberglass I beam. It has been used as the side rails for all of our robots to date; it's super strong and very easy to mount things to. (see here: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/26813 )

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

What made you opt to link an AM single speed via chain rather than direct driving (or reducing) a Banebots transmission, which seems like it could be a cheaper, lighter, and more compact (in 2 of the 3 dimensions) solution. Don't really see the need to torque up a mecanum system, especially on a promobot.
Although I do very much like how well the system fits together (with the AM tucked in the frame and the CIM poking over the top), and I also like the use of channel (i-beam?) for the frame railing.

I believe that we already had the AM singlespeeds on hand from previous experiments, so it was the cheaper route. Also, the chain reduction isn't for more torque; it's to make the bot drive slower.