pic: drivetrain idea (comments please)

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by sdcantrell56

I would say it is a very safe blanket statement. I was waiting for someone to chime in with team 25 as an example. Yes they do not drop the center wheel and they do have 6 traction wheels but as far as I know, they and maybe 103 who share a similar drivetrain are the only teams that don't drop the center wheel and have had success. I would say unless you are team 25, which no one is and very few are at there level, then I would recommend dropping the center wheel. You are not sacrificing any performance and in fact are improving your ability to turn and not trip the breakers.

25, et al, are able to run 6WD skid steer without a dropped center wheel because they have an understanding of CoF and CoM. You need enough torque to overcome the friction of your wheels, and that means understanding where your CoM is, what your CoF is, and how much weight is on each wheel. Needless to say, you need to do a fair bit of math

And as far as not sacrificing anything with a lowered drivetrain ... everything is a tradeoff. Lowering the center wheel shortens your wheelbase and gives your oppenent a lever arm in which he can rotate your robot. The trick, for your opponent, is knowing when, and which side, that lever is on.