Alright my team is thinking about using either are original 6 wheel tank drive or we are thinking about using tank tread, so any any opinions, info, and possible places to get matterial or acually treads would be helpful.
Thanks
We are having the same thoughts. Though, our decision would be 6 wheel tank drive or 4 wheel skid. (Same thing, only 4 wheels) 6 wheels would be easier to move around though going over the bump in the center leaves us in more danger of flipping. We have thought of ways around it though we have decided to go a route in which we can do either. A switch between 4 wheel and 6 wheel in 20 minutes or less.
Run a few searches and you find a lot of info on tank treads here on CD. Brecoflex was a popular manufacturer used by several teams a few years ago.
Really comes down to your design constraints and resources at hand. A few teams ran systems by outback a two years ago with much success.
Our team used a tank tread one year and we kept stripping off our drive chains, so we also had it set up to where we could take off the treads and quickly and easily put wheels onto it, also a good idea might be a halftrack which is two wheels in the front and short treads in the back, link related, its a halftrack
Tank treads can be cool but there are difficulties associated with them. I would recommend they not be attempted durring build season without previous experience. Save them for an off season project.
This x1000. Drive train experimentation should whenever possible be limited to the offseason, unless you’re extremely confident you have the resources and know-how to pull it off.
Tank drives are notorious for an inability to turn due to insufficient torque. This can be overcome, but it’s not trivial.
i would say go for 6 wheel tank drive over tank tread because with the treads would be difficult to go fast and the treads could get stuck on the hump (if your going over it)
high school sophomore, second year mechanical
If you are trying to get 3 robots on a bridge, the having 6 wheels might allow you to have two wheels hanging over the edge and be able to stay on the bridge. Being to turn sideways on the bridge would help also.
I’d recommend 6 wheels. Tank treads do not take side loads very well…
I’m pushing my kids towards wide-frame 4-wheel skid, probably 8" wheels with a little lift. Though about tank tread, but lack of experience is holding me back.
Stright tank tread =).
Just curious, we weren’t sure if there was anything in the rules requiring that wheels be used, or are tracks allowed within the rules
Part of our design was hinging on the availability of tracks just making sure we didn’t miss something in the rules
Thanks for the help
When it comes to what kinds of wheels, treads, etc. you use FRC does not restrict what you can use beyond the size, weight, and price restrictions that apply to the entire design. Generally this is true for any materials on the robot other than pneumatics, electrical systems, and certain sensors. However, when looking to do something entirely new for your drive train in the build season, keep in mind that if your robot doesn’t move well, it won’t do much else well (unless you’ve built around a strategy that doesn’t require mobility). If you choose to do something new, proceed with caution.
All right thanks for the feed back. I think that our team has decided not to use treads, but the response was much appreciated:)
The tank tread idea sounds interesting enough. When my team and I were brainstorming my robot idea involved a Tank tread.
Compromise. Do a half-track with turning front wheels.
ok thanks for the responses, i did look around and saw some different designs. But if i could get like a list of pros and cons on the two based on experience and reaserch, i think we may be going with a wider robot this year so any types of drive train that would be good for that would be helpful.
Thanks again
Tank Treads
Pros:
-Constant platform of support
-Can go halfway off bridge, assuming central or rear center of gravity
-Hard for opponents to push around
-Good traction
Cons:
-Very expensive
-Complex
-Narrow range of uses
-Torque issues
6wd
Pros:
-Good support platform
-Can go halfway off bridge, assuming central or rear center of gravity
-Fast turning
Cons:
-Typically on 4 out of 6 wheels
-Complicated
There are just my team’s observations of other teams in the regionals (Boston) over the past few years. We’ve always stuck with 4wd Mecanum, so no first-hand experience.
6WDs are on 4 out of 6 wheels, but the drop is so negligible that it never seems to matter with sticky traction wheels.
If 6WD is mechanically complicated, you’ve got a problem.