<R06>

[hdanak]

I don't quite understand the big deal about making the robot heavier... while an increased normal force may improve traction, it won't help accelerating and braking-- if your robot is heavier, it is that much harder to accelerate. I suppose the only advantage is if another robot were to push you, then it would take a larger force to break static friction. I think that the only reason it seems to improve acceleration is that it slows down the motor speed, bringing it below the threshold of breaking static friction (g*u_s). On the other hand, using idler wheels for the purpose of getting robot motion data may waste the weight that it would have driven otherwise... the other wheels must still pull that load.

Hike Danakian, Reseda Regents Robotics (2584)