Posted by Patrick Dingle at 03/08/2001 6:35 PM EST
Coach on team #639, Red B^2, from Ithaca High School and Cornell University.
Does anyone know a quick yet effective method for putting little grooves in the wheelchair wheels provided by FIRST? We would like to groove all four of our wheels to provide better traction when we get to NYC. What tools can be used? Is there a specific spacing between grooves that works best on the carpet on the playing field?
Thanks
Patrick
Posted by ChrisH at 03/08/2001 8:25 PM EST
Engineer on team #330, Beach 'Bots, from Hope Chapel Academy and NASA JPL, J & F Machine, Raytheon, et al.
In Reply to: Grooving wheelchair wheels
Posted by Patrick Dingle on 03/08/2001 6:35 PM EST:
: Does anyone know a quick yet effective method for putting little grooves in the wheelchair wheels provided by FIRST? We would like to groove all four of our wheels to provide better traction when we get to NYC. What tools can be used? Is there a specific spacing between grooves that works best on the carpet on the playing field?
In the past we’ve used a soldering gun to melt grooves. Get the iron hot and push it into the tire. The tire material melts and squeezes out to make ridges. They wear down really fast though. We’ve never done an exhaustive study, but they don’t seem to make a whole lot of difference. Spacing doesn’t seem to matter much either.
Chris Husmann, PE
Team 330 the Beach’Bots
Posted by Adrian Wong at 03/08/2001 8:58 PM EST
Student on team #596, Hopkinton Hillers, from Hopkinton High School and Zymark & Computer Associates.
In Reply to: Grooving wheelchair wheels
Posted by Patrick Dingle on 03/08/2001 6:35 PM EST:
During our first practice match at UTC, our robot failed to make it up the bridge. The wheels were losing traction, so we took our robot back to the pit and began making grooves.
We simply took a few utility knives and cut out small grooves spaced about 1/4 to 1/2 inches apart. We did this to both our drive wheels and took it back for testing.
Our robot has enough traction to make it over the bridge during our second practice match; however, we had to make a running start for the bridge. So, we took it back to the pit again and began notching the grooves closer together.
Now, we have plenty of traction to get over the bridge.
One thing I did notice on a lot of the robots at UTC that we didn’t have time to put in: timing belts. A lot of the robots looked like they just wrapped timing belts around their wheels, creating tread-like wheels.
Posted by Anton Abaya at 03/09/2001 1:31 AM EST
Coach on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / BC High and If only we had free donuts…
In Reply to: Grooving wheelchair wheels
Posted by Patrick Dingle on 03/08/2001 6:35 PM EST:
hey there…
if u look at our wheels, we actually spent time to put grooves in them. we used a router at the machine shop. it took an hour to do all 10 wheels!
in the past, we used a utility knife to do it. it was the fastest solution. i’ve seen some using hacksaws, but that sucks.
y dont u find some material that you can attach onto the outside of the wheels? i’ve seen some people put screws on the wheels. ive seen other wheels that have screwed RUBBER around it. (screwed rubber would be like those things u’d find underneath computer cases)…
good luck though.
-anton
Posted by Dan at 03/09/2001 6:08 AM EST
Other on team - from Carnegie Mellon sponsored by -.
In Reply to: Grooving wheelchair wheels
Posted by Patrick Dingle on 03/08/2001 6:35 PM EST:
I’m not sure what the rules are, but I found some awesome cogged v-belt that has some huge teeth. It’s not timing belt, but it looks like it. It’s cogged so it has a smaller min. bend radius. Check out www.mscdirect.com. It’s also a good way to add to your wheel diameter for speed (I found 1/2" thick and 7/8" wide belts.)
Dan
Posted by Chris Hardman at 03/10/2001 11:01 PM EST
Student on team #111, WILDSTANG, from Rolling Meadows and Wheeling High schools and motorola.
In Reply to: Grooving wheelchair wheels
Posted by Patrick Dingle on 03/08/2001 6:35 PM EST:
: Does anyone know a quick yet effective method for putting little grooves in the wheelchair wheels provided by FIRST? We would like to groove all four of our wheels to provide better traction when we get to NYC. What tools can be used? Is there a specific spacing between grooves that works best on the carpet on the playing field?
: Thanks
: Patrick
cut groves like they say, or you can use the tubing and wrap it around the wheels. it works pretty good to. Metal cleats work as well.
chris hardman