pic: Team 330, 2009

[Lil' Lavery]

I'm definitely curious to see how that drive performs in competition, and hopefully have the chance to see it in person at some point. I considered something similar, but for, essentially, the opposite purpose. I scrapped the idea after considering some of the forces involved quickly in my head, but perhaps I should have drawn them out further.

Essentially, instead of having the drivebase turn within the frame, I wanted the frame to turn on the drivebase (ie, the whole frame to be a giant turret). Anyone who thinks about that for a few seconds can realize what an advantage that would have been.

Now, I'm curious as to exactly how this performs? What method do you use for turning the wheels within the frame? I'm suspecting you turn the wheels as if they were a standard drive base (run each side in opposite directions) and then rotate the frame on top of them. In other words, the base turns like a normal robot, but the frame could remain in the same orientation compared to the field.

Is that the case? Or is it purely by the force of the turntable that your drivebase is oriented? If so, does the frame move at all, or does it stay stationary (due to the low friction of the field not providing huge resistance)? How does the trailer influence the driving?

I hope I'm making sense. After work I might try and diagram out some of the things I'm asking about.