pic: 114's new tensioner

[Nuttyman54]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

What are you concerns over constantly changing your robots wheel base? I've seen a few systems that work like this.

Team 971 used a tensioner like this last year, and that really wasn't a concern for us. The amount that the wheelbase actually changes is insignificant when compared with the distance between wheel contact points.

[Karthik]

Impressive, it looks very similar to the tensioner that 968 used last year. Another fine example of west coast teams sharing each other's designs to the benefit of all. No wonder the quality of play has increased so dramatically!

[Elgin Clock]

I'm all about visuals, and understanding things by seeing them... but...
uh... what is this for?
I'm actually quite lost on this one it seems.

Edit: Ok. Seeing this pic helped me see what it was going to be used for.
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/155...ndframeur8.jpg

There is only one issue I can think of right now. When you move the bolt so the head is sticking out of the frame more to increase(?)/decrease(?) tension as it may be, wont that bolt go out of profile if your frame is not short enough to account for that? (Edit: Wait... will the bolt head move, or is it just acting like a lead screw? <-- Answered below by Nuttyman. Thanks. I was imagining something a little different than how it actually works.)

It is a cool concept.
But, I would have rather used a turnbuckle style fastener between the centers of the pillow blocks rather than something on the outside if that would be possible while not interfering with the chain itself running (presumably) inside the box extrusion.

Also, a side question for teams who run chain inside box extrusion.
Have you ever had problems of your chassis getting damaged and thus the deformed shape interfering with the chain running inside?

[Nuttyman54]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Wait... will the bolt head move, or is it just acting like a lead screw?

It acts as a lead screw to slide the bearing block in the frame slot.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Nuttyman54

The bolt head never moves farther out (look at where the threads engage). This works by sliding the actually bearing block in the frame, and thus moving the wheels closer or farther away from each other.

You beat me to the punch. lol Look at my edited question I popped in. I guess some issues are non-issues now. Thanks for the explanation.