4 wheels v. 6 Wheels

[JesseK]

My team has had a love affair with 4 wheels since 2012. This year is no different, and this year all 4 are direct-drive. It's so simple: no chain/belts to haggle with, high quantities of hubs to worry about or extra axles to lathe.

The wheel base (width x length) is ~28"x17". The robot would normally be 'tippy', but we have a plan for c.g. and we're going to have ~1/4" ground clearance overall for the frame. This means that the outer edges of the frame will prevent us from going all the way over in the event of a hard stop. Sure, we could put another 2 wheels in to do that for us - but why?

[bEdhEd]

We stick with treaded 6 wheel drive drop center, all year every year unless if the game involves something where a 6 wheel drop center would cause us to be at a disadvantage, which is not often.

We try to go for the same drive system every year so we don't waste any of our build season contemplating other designs, when we know that we have a drive system that is reliable and low maintenance. Saves us time for prototyping if the drive base is built before build season, too. Then we just build another identical one for our final bot. It's just easier that way. Boom done.

During the off season, we do want to try some swerve prototyping.

[jijiglobe]

6 wheels means a small turning radius if you have a drop center... I think that 6 wheels is the way to go if your doing tank unless you have a very specific reason not to. Last year our team did 6 wheels and was able to turn on a dime. Its also a lot of fun to play with

[gpetilli]

Originally Posted by JesseK

My team has had a love affair with 4 wheels since 2012. This year is no different, and this year all 4 are direct-drive. It's so simple: no chain/belts to haggle with, high quantities of hubs to worry about or extra axles to lathe.

The wheel base (width x length) is ~28"x17". The robot would normally be 'tippy', but we have a plan for c.g. and we're going to have ~1/4" ground clearance overall for the frame. This means that the outer edges of the frame will prevent us from going all the way over in the event of a hard stop. Sure, we could put another 2 wheels in to do that for us - but why?

1/4" ground clearance may be too low. There are often cables or other small bumps in the field that are not in the drawings. This year there are not any obvious field parts that would need power, but you never know. What about field debris?

[chibi_mechanic]

I'm a bit of a newbie to all this, but from what I have observed (and correct me if I'm wrong) six wheels might be the best option for this year's game. The setup provides better mobility and possibly more speed than the traditional four-wheel setup. It would also be more stable and harder to tip over. But if you're still unsure, you should try to test each setup in small scale if possible.