2012 KOP wheels

[Camren]

Id like an 8 in version

[3747Mentor]

We used them all season. 6WD...loved them. We were always able to get to where we wanted to go. Excellent traction on carpet and especially on the bridges. We never spun when pushing another bot up the bridge.

AndyMark has done an excellent job with these wheels.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by IndySam

We designed our robot this year to use pneumatic wheels but after practicing a bit we just didn't like the amount of bounce we got with our short wheelbase and these wheels.

Taking a queue from our good friends and practice partners 1024 we switched to this years KOP wheels and were absolutely thrilled with their performance throughout the season.

They were grippy as heck, could climb the bridges with ease and nobody could push us around. Even after 100's of practice hours the wheels on our practice bot performed just as well as when they were brand new.

I think AndyMark and FIRST really hit it out of the ballpark with these wheels and at only $10 a piece they were a steal.

I hope they come back next year and I really hope they make them with clear polycarbonate instead of black.

Anyone else use these wheels this year?

Excuse a question from someone "out of the game" but...
What is the coefficient of friction between these wheels and carpet?

I'm interested in one specific test. Someone with 100% of their drive weight on these wheels, put their robot on a ramp of carpet, and tilt it until it slips.

Anyone do this test?

-John

[apalrd]

Nothing quantitative, but I have some purely subjective data:

-On carpet, there somewhere between the gray KOP wheels and Roughtop (greater than gray KOP wheel, less than roughtop).
-On polycarbonate/HDPE (bridge and key), they're slightly less sticky than the gray KOP or Colson wheels, not much. Much better than roughtop on these surfaces.

To answer OP, we ran these wheels as the front (6" dia) wheels at Troy. We had different wheels (2" wide 6" dia IFI with black roughtop) at Kettering, and yet another set of wheels (2008 gray KOP wheels with the edges rounded on a lathe to slightly improve turning performance) at States and beyond. They're light (compared to IFI wheels), have slightly better traction than the gray KOP wheels, and have significantly better polycarbonate/HDPE traction than roughtop.

[JVN]

In an effort not to derail this thread, I started a new topic discussing coefficient of friction:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...hreadid=107759

If anyone from this thread did some quantitative testing, I'd love for you to chime in.

-John

[Nemo]

One thing I'd love to see from AndyMark: 4" versions of the 2012 kit wheels. I'd definitely order a set if they were available.

[Chris Fultz]

we tested with KOP wheels, wedgetop and blue tread (McMaster).

We found that the blue tread got better grip on the ramp and on the carpet.
It also holds up well when dusty / dirty.

JVN - for your question, see your other thread.