Differential?

[dtengineering]

Originally Posted by squirrel

For the most part, automakers get around the limited traction problem of open differentials by inadvertently making the cars heavy and with suspension...it almost always takes care of the problem....

Until you get onto ice... it's not uncommon to see a new driver trying to get unstuck in the snow spinning one wheel while the other sits there unmoving. What the driver probably doesn't know is that while the speedo says "50km/hr", the wheel with traction is doing zero and the wheel on the ice is doing 100km/hr.

But hey... if you want to use a differential, go ahead and try one. Learning about what they are and how they work is a useful thing, even if they don't turn out to be the best solution for your robot. I can't help but wonder how many people learned a whole heck of a lot about planetary gearboxes while re-building their banebot trannies last year. :-)

Jason