custom wheels

[1683cadder]

I noticed that a lot of teams are using custom wheels this year. Is there any advantages? What about costs? And what is needed when designing a wheel?

[ehochstein]

We almost made our own wheels this year, unfortunately we had to return our 3D printer before we could finish them. Some advantages would be that you can make the wheels any size you would like as long as they remain within the constraints of the 3D printer. You can also change the structure of the wheel potentially saving weight.

When designing a wheel you would need a CAD software compatible with your 3D printer as well as some tread to attach to the wheel once they have finished printing. If I have some time later tonight I will upload an image of our CADed wheels.

Cost wise, you have a pretty large start-up fee. A 3D printer can cost you more then an entire team's budget for one year.

[MichaelBick]

Custom wheels are usually made in two ways: 3D printing or CNC machining. The 3D printing method tends to be the easier method. I've heard they can be really strong if made right, so you probably want to experiment before the season if you chose this method. From what I've heard, CNC'd wheels tends to be resource consuming, but you come out with a strong, light wheel.

[sdcantrell56]

COLSONS FTW!

[Travis Hoffman]

Find a sponsor with a CNC mill (thanks GEMS!).

Shamelessly borrow AM's 6" performance wheel CAD design (the old one without the big hole in it for the zip-tied tread) minus a few features.

Buy 5.75" aluminum wheel blanks for about $9.50 each.

Turn your sponsor loose.

Finish up the tread grooves and rivet holes yourself.

Save lots of money.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

Find a sponsor with a CNC mill (thanks GEMS!).

Shamelessly borrow AM's 6" performance wheel CAD design (the old one without the big hole in it for the zip-tied tread) minus a few features.

Buy 5.75" aluminum wheel blanks for about $9.50 each.

Turn your sponsor loose.

Finish up the tread grooves and rivet holes yourself.

Save lots of money.

This is really inefficient.

Sure, you save money, but at the expense of sponsor's time.

I'm sure that sponsors time could be better spent on other robot parts.

We run COTS wheels now, after machining aluminum solid wheels for years.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

This is really inefficient.

Sure, you save money, but at the expense of sponsor's time.

I'm sure that sponsors time could be better spent on other robot parts.

We run COTS wheels now, after machining aluminum solid wheels for years.

I'm sure you know nothing about our program or our sponsor.

I'm sure they are happy to save us money doing a part they can setup once and make repeatedly and relatively quickly, giving them more time to handle their very busy workload on all that fun stuff that *actually makes them money*.

I'm sure they are also happy that they saved 3193 money as well making the same wheels.

I'm sure we had another local CNC sponsor who is more flexible in making a variety of parts for us.

I'm sure COTS wheels weren't something we wanted to use on the competition robot this year.

[Chinmay]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

I'm sure you know nothing about our program or our sponsor.

I'm sure they are happy to save us money doing a part they can setup once and make repeatedly and relatively quickly, giving them more time to handle their very busy workload on all that fun stuff that *actually makes them money*.

I'm sure they are also happy that they saved 3193 money as well making the same wheels.

I'm sure we had another local CNC sponsor who is more flexible in making a variety of parts for us.

I'm sure COTS wheels weren't something we wanted to use on the competition robot this year.

I'm sure you know exactly how to save your sponsors time and money and maybe I'll get to hear that someday....


Regardless, I agree with Adam that making your own wheels can be a resource hog for a lot of teams. Sometimes, it is feasible for a team to machine their own wheels, but even if I had the time/materials, I'd still think twice about doing it unless theres a significant advantage.

Some significant advantages can include the method of tred attachment, the way you attache sprockets for chain/belt, the exact diameter of the wheel and the width of the wheel. I dont think weight savings would be too big a motivation for making custom wheels. It really just depends on your teams resources. There are a lot of good wheels that are cots parts so i wouldn't worry too much about custom ones.

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by Chinmay

I'm sure you know exactly how to save your sponsors time and money and maybe I'll get to hear that someday....


Regardless, I agree with Adam that making your own wheels can be a resource hog for a lot of teams. Sometimes, it is feasible for a team to machine their own wheels, but even if I had the time/materials, I'd still think twice about doing it unless theres a significant advantage.

Some significant advantages can include the method of tred attachment, the way you attache sprockets for chain/belt, the exact diameter of the wheel and the width of the wheel. I dont think weight savings would be too big a motivation for making custom wheels. It really just depends on your teams resources. There are a lot of good wheels that are cots parts so i wouldn't worry too much about custom ones.

Saving money is a significant advantage in my books.

[MichaelBick]

Originally Posted by Gregor

Saving money is a significant advantage in my books.

Versa traction wheels are cheap.

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by MICHAELABICK

Versa traction wheels are cheap.

Read Travis' list again.

A lot of people in this thread are assuming that what works for their team works for every team.

[mman1506]

Originally Posted by Wiifi

We almost made our own wheels this year, unfortunately we had to return our 3D printer before we could finish them. Some advantages would be that you can make the wheels any size you would like as long as they remain within the constraints of the 3D printer. You can also change the structure of the wheel potentially saving weight.

When designing a wheel you would need a CAD software compatible with your 3D printer as well as some tread to attach to the wheel once they have finished printing. If I have some time later tonight I will upload an image of our CADed wheels.

Cost wise, you have a pretty large start-up fee. A 3D printer can cost you more then an entire team's budget for one year.

A 3d printer sound like a pretty expensive way of making wheels. How much did yours cost?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by mman1506

A 3d printer sound like a pretty expensive way of making wheels. How much did yours cost?

The RepRap types of printers can start around $2K, depending on material source. $3K-$4K would get you a similar printer that's been modified/built by a company. Not sure what some of the top-of-the-line desktop models run.

Material typically runs about $15/lb. Might sound like a lot, but that's a lot of material for a lot of parts.

[mman1506]

Originally Posted by EricH

The RepRap types of printers can start around $2K, depending on material source. $3K-$4K would get you a similar printer that's been modified/built by a company. Not sure what some of the top-of-the-line desktop models run.

Material typically runs about $15/lb. Might sound like a lot, but that's a lot of material for a lot of parts.

Its sounds like you need a STL or a high end additive printer to get the strength necessary for wheels. Are 3d printers material runs about 30$ a pound and it isn't very good(Bits from Bytes). Are they lighter than the equivalent milled from aluminium?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by mman1506

Its sounds like you need a STL or a high end additive printer to get the strength necessary for wheels.

If you don't have an STL file, you're not getting a printed wheel. You may mean SLS, a type of 3D printer.

But strength is a matter of material, and to some extent manufacturing method. I would say that a RepRap could produce a wheel that is strong enough for FRC, if the proper parameters were used in terms of fill amount and layers at the outside. RepRap-type printers' technical name is FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling), BTW.

Are 3d printers material runs about 30$ a pound and it isn't very good. Are they lighter than the equivalent milled from aluminium?

Lighter? YES. Take a block of PLA or ABS. Now take a block of aluminum the same size. The plastic should be lighter (unless you're Wile E. Coyote).

You may have a printer type that uses a cartridge, or a powder (SLS draws on powder with a laser). That's much more expensive, in and of itself. If your material isn't very good, it may be expired--or you might need to look into changing your source.