pic: drivetrain idea (comments please)

[EricH]

Originally Posted by bmarick

i meant that you have to make sure the wieght is balance because otherwise you could end up only have the four wheels touching the ground. i gess but that just makes the robot seem jerky to me because the front wheel will loose and gain tration on weather you have the robot acelerating or deacelrating.

And there's a problem with only four wheels on the ground?

Actually, the front (or back, depending) will likely be in contact with the ground the whole time (with a small enough drop). It won't contribute as much as the rest, but it will still contribute.

Jerky? See that team list I put up in my last post? Go to the Blue Alliance and pull up some video of those teams, especially 60 and 254, who popularized the dropped-center designs.

My point was that by centering the weight precisely in the middle (which is hard to do in the first place), you lose much of the point of dropping the wheel, as the weight shifts become random and can easily throw off your drivers. By placing it strategically, you eliminate that and get a better robot.