02-05-2003 08:18 PM

Cory

wow those are some incredibly sweet omi-wheels

Cory

02-05-2003 09:16 PM

Solace

hey, you guys already posted a teaser, didn't you? I thought you were using tracks?

or both? that wouldn't make much sense.

02-05-2003 09:19 PM

Beast314

I could see the omni's as part of a turning system. They use the omni's to raise one end off the ground for tighter turning. Just my thought. I'm not sure why they'd be driven though.

02-05-2003 09:27 PM

Joel J

From where I am looking, it seems as though the treads will go down when they are on the ramp or in need of power, and the omni wheels elsewhere; the omnis seem ideal for the 15 second automode, hrm..

02-05-2003 09:36 PM

OneAngryDaisy

their first teaser showed the treads to be bolted to the aluminium.. so your idea would only work if the omni's came down- and where's the space for that?


personally, i think either the omni's won't be on the robot, or they'll be someplace else other than the main drivetrain..

02-05-2003 09:41 PM

Cory

They could be switchable with the tracks, depending on what they feel like using from match to match.

Cory

02-05-2003 10:50 PM

Madison

Except that, as best as I could see, their treads are directly driven off the gearboxes. There was no chain. So, the sprocket on the omniwheels becomes the anomaly.

I'd not be too surprised if they popped out of the bottom for easier turning. It's a great system, still allows for two speeds, and is capable of doing other neat things, too, unrelated to drivetrain stuff.

02-05-2003 11:10 PM

Jnadke

Man, those super-duper-really-cool-shinny things look cool! Of course they're cool, because they're super-duper-really-cool-shinny things.

I'd go with the super-duper-really-cool-shinny things... too much pushing power is overkill in this year's game. It gives you more maneuverability too...

Hmm... the super-duper-really-cool-shinny things look like they have a diameter of 6" from the person holding them (looks like they are approximately 1 handspan, 5-6").

0.5ft * pi * 1000 RPM / 60s = 26 Feet per Second

Nice and fast... but are you gonna have enough torque to accelerate your 'bot??????



Personally, if you plan on stacking boxes, I'd mount the omni's perpendicular to the treads... so that you have a kind of "swerve drive". This gives you 3 options. You can use the treads for maximum traction/pushing power. You can lower the omnis on the front and use the rear treads for a slow-moving powerful robot that turns nice. Or, you can lower both the back and front omni's for optimum turning and speed. Perfect for broad-siding your oponents, but you might want to protect your treads with 1/16" polycarb if you do this.

If you have trouble understanding what I mean by perpendicular... mount the wheels so that they rotate toward the treads. The omnis on the right tread side of the robot would spin freely on the bearings... and the omnis on the left tread side would each be driven by a FP. The front and rear sets of omnis would be mounted on aluminum rods (2 per rod), so that you could engage either the front or back, or both. It would only require 2 cylinders then... The only problem I see, is will the omnis be able to turn the FPs when the treads want to turn... Either that or you can have your programmer drive the FP's for omni-assisted turning.


There are many advantages of this... for example, stacking boxes would be easier. Pick one up, slide/swerve over to the stack, and drop it down. Second, it would be handy on the ramp to dodge speeding robots.... hehe. The main advantage is robot automation. Drive your robot forward on treads until you lose the white tape, then swerve back over until you passed the tape twice, which puts you approx at the center of the ramp. Then tread up the ramp and show those boxes who's boss.

02-06-2003 11:06 AM

Clark Gilbert

LOL

02-06-2003 05:33 PM

Jnadke

I must be right that those are the super-duper-really-cool-shinny things Baker was talking about, because he didn't say no

02-06-2003 09:36 PM

Ken Leung

Too bad you guys haven't seen their old robot, or you would've know what these are for.

Back at 98 or 99, I am not sure which one (probably 99), they had a tread system, and they lower two wheels from the back to the ground so the treads only touch the ground in the front, and turn the system into a 4 wheel drive like system.

Which would make sense for this tread system, because with the high side friction, it make it easier to turn when they lower these omni wheels on the back.

02-12-2003 06:20 PM

Raul

Nice design. They look very familiar.

02-19-2003 04:39 PM

Eric Bareiss

I don't see these in your drive train. Are these what are inside those boxes at the ends of your wings?

02-19-2003 09:51 PM

Austin

That's for us to know, and you to lose sleep over finding out!