pic: Belt Drive Chassis

[M. Mellott]

Originally Posted by JB987

One thing to consider regarding use of a single belt per side...if you do have a very rare belt failure your bot will basically be dead on the field while use of two belts per side still allows decent mobility should one belt fail on a given side. Good for you to consider using a belt though...987 switched 3 years ago to belts and loves them.

As you guys have some experience with these belt drives...

How does the belt drive handle high torque situations, such as a pushing contest vs. another robot? Can it handle a high-torque transmission setup?

Also, assuming the belt is inside rectangular tubing, how easy/difficult would it be to change a belt if you do have that rare belt failure? I can see pulling out the axles of the end wheels to wrap a belt around the pulley relatively easy, but the axle of your center wheel is also the output shaft of your transmission--seems very time consuming to change if you're in a playoff situation.

I think I too would go with 2 belts on each side--you would guarantee a solid 180-degree wrap on each pulley, plus the redundancy of multiple belts.