pic: Super Light Chassis System

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Cyberphil

Yes, these are exactly what I am referring to. Our team went away from chains many years ago due to many complications and failures. These could very well be from un-proper tensioning and alignment. I do understand how these problems are solved with this system, but I was just more or less wondering you had ever considered it.



I completely agree. The only reasons we use a directly gear-driven DT is because of the failures in these places. The less room for problems, the less problems in general is our view. And, yes, I understand that there are complications with a direct gear-driven DT also.



Very interesting. Then I have one more question. Why did you name it Team 221 Robotic Systems?

The advantage of this style chain system is that it allows you to run a single frame rail, which saves a good deal of weight alone. The sliding bearing blocks also makes it so machining the rails is far easier, with lower tolerance. A geared system is both heavier and requires more precision.

With proper alignment and tensioning, which is pretty easy, chain failure in #25 chain is a complete non-issue.