So this is team 1885’s ilite Robotics prototype. It is a 6 wheel chain driven drive with 4 inch colson wheels. This is just our preseason version, we plan on using a shifter gearbox, depending on the game. We used 2x1 box for the motor sides, and 80/20 for the adjacent sides. We used a West Coast Productions (WCP) single speed gear box.
How do you like it?!?!
I really like the use of 80/20 extrusion for the front and back framing members - it provides a remarkably simple construction method that I wouldn’t have thought of myself. I’m usually not a big fan of 80/20 as anything other than a prototype material, but this looks to me like a very good solution.
Be cautious with the 6-CIM single-speed drive if you use it on your competition bot - it’s very easy to trip your main breaker if your gearing is too aggressive (we found this out the hard way last year). Shifters are definitely the way to go.
Thanks!
We wouldn’t use 6 cims if we had a single speed, the gearbox has the capability to have 6, but it isn’t necessary for our purposes. Although, I don’t know if we would use 6 with a shifter.
Use at least 4 cims for drive IMO. Very few manpulators on a bot will need more than 2 cims for power.
Shifting is a great thing for 6 cims, as you can use the low gear for positioning the robot for accuray, and the high gear for moving at 18fps+.
for such a light test bot we don’t really need to much power. Its only about 25lbs. So we’d be wasting a good cim if we had 4.
The only purpose of this bot is to get drivers practice and prove a theory that one of our mentors had.
FYI driver practice is generally somewhat useless on a system with radically different drive characteristics from a finished product. If you are giving non-drivers a chance to practice driving something, that is useful though. And building prototypes is ALWAYS useful!
Driver practice on a non similar bot during the season is not as beneficial (but practice is practice), however during the offseason any practice is beneficial, even if it is on a robot that is nothing like your in season robot. Just being able to learn the control layout and get comfortable driving is a huge benefit.
I would suggest adding a weight box to bring it up to competition weight of 150 lbs with bumpers added so they get used to size. Then test with different motor configurations while driver training. You will gain more from this than drivers just getting used to controls. Your programmers can use this platform to test autonomous modes as well. A light robot will have very different characteristics than an “up to weight” robot. Also, corner braces to stiffen the chassis from racking, along with a shear panel or belly pan.
Or we can just throw a shooter on it 
but transitioning from a 4 wheel direct drive to a 6 wheel chain drive is different…