T-Boning a Rhino Track Drive

[Nick Lawrence]

This video may be of interest to some folks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8oMG5NQS0o

-Nick

[SenorZ]

I notice the Rhino driver seemed careful to not drive forward until the opponent eased back. I don't know if students in the heat of a match will be that careful. With that tread pushed back so far I'd still be worried about a derailment.

[MikLast]

Firstly, Thank you!

This looks pretty promising on the treads durability, and this should be a good starting point to show the feasibility of treads (not that it would really matter by now for this year) That doesnt go without saying the real world never plays out like synthetic testing, its going to be interesting to see how these actually hold up in competition.

[Deke]

What is just as interesting as the rhino performance is the KOP performance with the pneumatic wheels.

It seems to be browning out when stalled. The 12 second, 42 second, and the last two pushing matches is where it looks jumpy (my assumption is brownout, wheels don't appear to slip). When the robot is moving, it doesn't seem to have the issue.

I wonder what that spells for many upgraded KOP drives with 8" wheels without an upgrade to the transmissions. Time will tell.

[mrnoble]

I wonder if some teams running treads will have any tricks built in to prevent t-bones?

[MaGiC_PiKaChU]

Originally Posted by mrnoble

I wonder if some teams running treads will have any tricks built in to prevent t-bones?

how do you prevent a team from pushing you?

[Peyton Yeung]

Originally Posted by MaGiC_PiKaChU

how do you prevent a team from pushing you?

Drop down omni wheels or ball casters so you spin instead of getting tboned.

[waialua359]

what happens if they go head to head with each other?

[Anupam Goli]

Originally Posted by waialua359

what happens if they go head to head with each other?

My money is on the tank treads winning

[pilleya]

Originally Posted by Anupam Goli

My money is on the tank treads winning

Both the treads and the pneumatic wheels have a lot of traction, I think when head to head it would be the gear-ratios which matter the most. Keep in mind that most teams using the Rhino Track system will be using the 2 CIM Toughbox Mini, not a shifting gearbox.

I feel that pneumatic wheels can beat a tank tread chassis head to head. But it is dependent on gear ratios

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by Anupam Goli

My money is on the tank treads winning

This video clip has some instances of what I think will happen. My money is on the pneumatic tires.

[ChuckDickerson]

That's some seriously disgustingly nasty dirty carpet. Can't AM afford a shop vac?

[JesseK]

In the open-bumper experiment, the bumpers of the pushing bot were making direct contact with the tank tracks of the Rhino bot. Would this be a [G24] FOUL by default? It would definitely be [G24] if the Rhino track belting broke.

Seems like teams will most definitely want to protect the entire length of the side of the Rhino track drive train. [G24] aside, breaking the belt could ruin the entire day.

[Jon Stratis]

I think that G24 notice would make a good Q&A question. While I'm not a ref (so my opinion has no standing at all), it seems to me that G24 is aimed at robot mechanisms extending past your own frame perimeter and inside another's. For the bumpers to extend into someone else's frame perimeter seems to me something that could happen quite regularly with normal game play. The intent of the bumpers is that they are what makes contact between your robot and another - if someone's frame is lower than your bumpers, is it really your fault of your bumper intrudes an inch or two in that situation?

[MaGiC_PiKaChU]

Originally Posted by Jon Stratis

I think that G24 notice would make a good Q&A question. While I'm not a ref (so my opinion has no standing at all), it seems to me that G24 is aimed at robot mechanisms extending past your own frame perimeter and inside another's. For the bumpers to extend into someone else's frame perimeter seems to me something that could happen quite regularly with normal game play. The intent of the bumpers is that they are what makes contact between your robot and another - if someone's frame is lower than your bumpers, is it really your fault of your bumper intrudes an inch or two in that situation?

I'm pretty sure bumpers are not a robot mechanism, but that would be a good Q&A question