pic: FRC 1771 East (West) Coast 8wd drivetrain

[sdcantrell56]

I chose not to direct drive a wheel so that we don't have to use custom gears or use an extra stage of gears. Also with this layout, the gear ratio can be switched very quickly by changing a sprocket size. This transmission uses almost no custom parts so it could be put together very quickly. I don't see enough benefit in directly driving a wheel to make it worth the machining effort. Also the way the motors are oriented at the bottom of the transmission helps lower the center of gravity more than if the motors were at the top of the transmission.

The wheels are actually incredibly simple. They will be made from a length of aluminum tube, and 2 separate plates of aluminum that will be laser cut to form the spokes. The entire thing will then be welded. The reason I did it this way is that we are sponsored by a sheet metal shop that does not have any cnc milling equipment, but has plenty of laser cncs, and the material to make these wheels is much cheaper than buying the billet necessary to machine a single piece wheel from.