Attempting the impossible

[Collin Fultz]

Originally Posted by ratdude747

reasons to ban the belt from your drivetrain;

1. belts have a lesser surface of contact. therefore, they skip and slip under less torque

2. related to #1, belts are harder to tension as belts stretch at a faster pace.

3. weight- belt sprockets are HEAVY. unless you have access to a CNC or a very precise mill and operator. if not, you will pay a weight penalty.

4. length- chain can be made shorter and longer, belts cannot.

We (Team 234) did a lot of work on this subject. You should check out our whitepaper. We set up a pretty good (in our opinion) Design of Experiments to test our hypothoses.

While you're correct, belts do require you to be more diligent in your design work, we found them to be slightly more efficient and lighter (using only manual tools) than an equivalent chain system.

We also did the "Put it against the wall and drive forward and see what gives first" test. The Roughtop-Plaction wheels slipped against the carpet before the belts slipped on the pulleys.