pic: 1351 Wheel Modules

[Sam N.]

loading photo ...

[=Martin=Taylor=]

Cool!

You'll be like the 3rd Nor-Cal team to do swerve.

Is it just me or are the vertical miter-gears plastic?

[Woodworker88]

Looks great. Were the side plates CNC'd or waterjetted?

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Hachiban VIII

Cool!

You'll be like the 3rd Nor-Cal team to do swerve.

Is it just me or are the vertical miter-gears plastic?

So its not just me who saw that.

You think that it'd be a problem in the future?

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

So its not just me who saw that.

You think that it'd be a problem in the future?

Depends, what material is that plastic?

[Sam N.]

Oh yes - the vertical gears are made of nylon. I don't think mating a steel to a nylon is too uncommon - it's a quieter solution than steel to steel (so I'm told) and doesn't require super-precise positioning. The nylons are also a lot less expensive than their steel counterparts ($4 instead of $30). Still, if the nylons do chew themselves apart, we have a spare set of steel gears.

The parts were CNC'd by Meadows Manufacturing, our local sponsor.

What other Nor-Cal teams are doing swerve?

[edthegeek]

In this situation, I think that having plastic gears is actually pretty acceptable due to the fact that this is not a game of extreme loads. The wheels would break friction and slip on the surface before any teeth would strip.

Originally Posted by edthegeek

In this situation, I think that having plastic gears is actually pretty acceptable due to the fact that this is not a game of extreme loads. The wheels would break friction and slip on the surface before any teeth would strip.

...Don't forget about the force of suddenly changing directions when at full speed. Most Plastics don't like that too much.

[Sam N.]

Our torque and acceleration control algorithms should prevent sudden direction changes at high-speed.

...should

[gorillamonky]

even if you try and change directions at high speeds, i don't think the friction will allow you to do so, so even if your software fails, the laws of physics should hold

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by Sam N.

Our torque and acceleration control algorithms should prevent sudden direction changes at high-speed.

...should

I'd be a bit more concerned with the CoF change as you go from free spinning on the regolith to traction on the carpet.

Otherwise, looks great.