pic: 254 Drivetrain

[phrozen solyd]

Our drive train is powered by 2 Atwoods and 2 drill motors, with 2 speeds, pneumatically shifted. The gearbox is a modification of 60's design from 2001. The 6-wheeled base is modeled after Team 25's awesomely fast and agile machine from 2003, with the center wheel on each side lower than the others by 1/8 inch, so that the robot rocks back and forth. This shrinks our wheelbase to about 13", allowing us to turn quickly.

The numerous solenoids on our bot are actually used for many different functions. One is for the cylinders that shift our gears, two are for our ball corralling "flaps", one extends our bar-grabbing hook, one actuates our gripping hook for latching onto the mobile goals, one extend the "whips" that knock off the 10-pt balls, one double solenoid actuates the claw for manipulating the large balls, and the other double solenoid engages and disengages the winch for pulling ourselves onto the bar.