High speed Drivetrains

[IndySam]

We started with a shifting drive this year but after problems we switched to single speed. We have a 4 cim drive geared to 17.3ft/s and 14.01 adjusted speed (acording to the JVN DesignCalc.) We were also light at 85lb's.

We were the fastest robot at both regionals we attended both in top speed and acceleration.

A few key points to going fast:

Keep the weight down, This kind of speed is much more difficult to achieve at 120lbs. If you want to go fast you have to watch every ounce from day one of your design.

Unless the game screams for it, we will never shift again. If the rules are the same next year, we will use a six motor drive.

You must have a practice robot. A real fast robot is difficult to drive. Our driver Nick made it look easy because he has many hours of practice driving a fast robot.

Pushing match, what pushing match? If they can't catch you they can't push you around. It's difficult to play effective defense against a real fast robot. Most robots would line up to block us but by the time they were ready we were already gone.