Team 3070 Mechanum wheels

[MKenney]

So at Team Pronto we just finished fabricating some awesome mechanum wheels. After a week and a half of hard work, we finished attaching the rollers on today. The four wheels are made out of aluminum sheet for the outside plates, ply wood for the middle hub, and delrin plastic milled on lathes for the rollers.

Lots of fun, lots of hassle, lots of time, but in the end well worth it.

Good luck from team 3070!

[coldfusion1279]

WOW they look great. Probably cost less than buying too...

I would make extras though, one shot with a kicker and that aluminum might bend... how thick is that aluminum?

[PaW]

Nice looking wheels!
We'll see the rest of your 'bot in Seattle.

[Madison]

Consider that the similarly designed mecanum wheels available commercially use steel side plates rather than aluminum. I would test their durability extensively now so that you're not scrambling to fix things or make changes at the event.

[Akash Rastogi]

I have a bad feeling that these wheels may give you more hassle than you have bargained for.

I am not saying this to downplay your efforts by any means, please don't take this the wrong way.

That aluminum looks very thin, too thin for effective use on a mecanum wheel. Second, I am fairly positive that rollers should be tapered from the center of the roller (also I would not recommend delrin as the roller material).

Note that AndyMark mecanum wheels use "convex rubber rollers are sandwiched between 2 steel welded plates" and that is after getting complaints prior to 09 that the wheels were weak and dented easily.

Again, I am just trying to look out for your team. I would really look into purchasing mecanum wheels from AM or seriously rethinking this wheel design.

+.02

[sanddrag]

I'm curious as to your method to bend these. I too share the concern about bending in competition, but for light use it looks great.

[teampronto]

Looking good guys