pic: 6 wheel drive with a suspension

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by joeweber

The gears are helical type. The secret? There will be a chain from the rear mec to the center omni, there will be another chain from the front mec to the center omni. At the center omni We will build a ball differential that will ride between the sprockets. When they go the same direction they will drive the omni wheels, when they go in opposite directions ( to go side ways) they will cancel each other out and not move. They will also be able to go on angles. Using these we will have 6 wheel drive forward and reverse. Each drive assembly will pivot at the omni location and with a pivoting support to the frame at mid-way of both drive assembly this will give us a suspension so the wheels will always be in contact with the floor when transitioning on ramps. We have the designs down but are just getting it on cad now.

The left drive is a mirror of the right drive. Using helical gears allows the motor to go the same direction thus allowing for the same speed when driving forward. It will not wander right when driving.

Rough drawings of the side veiw http://www.team1322.org/ideas.htm#Omni%20Direction

It's an interesting concept, but is certainly a lot of complexity to pull it off. If I recall correctly teams with mecanums have been able to climb ramps, 40 in 2006 and 1540 in 2007 for example. Have you also given thought to how this would affect any manipulators? The two segments pivot a lot in regards to each other, that looks like it'd be quite a hassle.