8" Mecanum wheels and KOP wheel brackets

[TubaMorg]

From the AndyMark site.
We decided to make our own brackets though since we want to drive the wheels directly and the angled design of the brackets make adding bearings and mounting the transmission more difficult.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by TubaMorg

From the AndyMark site.
We decided to make our own brackets though since we want to drive the wheels directly and the angled design of the brackets make adding bearings and mounting the transmission more difficult.

I will repeat what I said in another thread about this idea. I would be VERY careful about adapting the KOP wheel brackets in the manner shown in that picture. If you cut away that much material from the bracket, you are severely compromising the ability of the bracket to resist lateral forces in line with the wheel axle. A lot of testing was done with the bracket/KOP wheel assembly. If the bracket is made of thinner material, or if enough material is removed from the bracket, bad things happen. If the wheel/carpet coefficient of friction is high enough, and the impact energy is high enough, the bracket will bend and fold when the robot is hit from the side by another robot. So let me be real blunt here: don't do this. If you do, you WILL regret it.

-dave



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[GearsOfFury]

Plus, as it's been said, you cannot fit a spacer, sprocket, ANSI 35 chain, and bolts all in there.

If you're just trying to prototype mounting options, here's one that seems to have worked for another team. The brackets are simply shelf cross members you can buy at the hardware store: http://www.youtube.com/user/SteveJes.../1/UQQ67SB8Acc

As another poster said, I would strongly suggest working up some CAD for a sturdy mounting system of your own design, as opposed to planning on using the KOP brackets or something similar to the YouTube video...

[Diminish]

It actually says on the Andymark website that they don't quite fit:

"For Use in 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition
These wheels fit within the AndyMark Wheel Bracket, with a bit of modification for sheet metal removal around the wheel, and if the interior screws on the wheel are shortened to 2.5" long screws instead of 3" screws."