My team is considering (and already built the kitbot) using omni wheels. Our goal is to do the H drive this game and be able to go over multiple defenses. What do you guys think?
I can tell you from experience, omni wheels are great for maneuverability, but not necessarily good for obstacles or rough terrain. They are more fragile than most treaded wheels and could break on some of the obstacles. I also don’t see much benefit in doing an H-drive configuration this year, but that depends on your strategy.
My team did not believe an H drive with Omni wheels would provide enough clearance to get over the 3 or 4 inch defenses.
I guess it would depend on clearance and/or how many wheels you’re using.
Omnis and an H drive is not the way to go for this game. You will be pushed all over the place, plus the wheel forming the H would get caught on the obstacles if it isn’t actuated up off the floor
You will want to check any wheels you are considering using to see if they provide sufficient traction on the plastic ramps on either side of the various defenses and at the base of the castle.
Why did your team decide on H drive? Did you do a weighted objectives table, or do something else to figure out a consensus? I’d really like a justification with some good reasoning because I would not recommend this.
My team tried H drive for Recycle Rush and found that even on the scoring platforms, the robot would bottom out and at least one wheel would lose contact with the platform and often we just got stuck. Note that this platform is just smooth with a slight slope. Now imagine trying to get over this game’s defenses. I predict it’s success rate to be low, if not 100% unsuccessful, unless there’s something special about this H drive. That’s why we switched to mecanum last season.
My only suggestion for possibly making this work is to use the largest omni wheels you can find and have maybe 4-5 inches of clearance from chassis to floor. Even then, you’d need to address the issue of not damaging your omni-rollers.
From last year’s experience with an H drive that barely moved over a short smooth platform, I recommend spending your team’s time and resources on a drive system that is better suited for this game like a tank drive with 4-8 pneumatic wheels or a tread system.
We wasted so much machining time and resources last year on H drive and it was absolutely underwhelming, and I do not want your team to lose something so valuable over something so lacking in value itself.
I’d only say yes to this idea if I could be given a good reason that shows the value of H drive in this game.
I would also like to hear your teams argument for using an H drive with omni wheels. Personally, I think the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages of using that set up this year. I think you will have a problem with a lot of the rugged terrain type obstacles and you’ll just make it easy to be pushed around.
If you’re set on this set up, I highly recommend spare wheels. Omni’s are notoriously fragile.
I would also like to point out that since there is defense in this game, it may not be prudent to use omnis as other robots can push you around very easily.
As a team that used H-drive last year, the center wheel is really easy to get busted up. In this game with difficult defenses, it would be a bad idea to have H-drive. I can see the center wheel getting caught on all the ramps for every defense. It would be a pain to have to replace the omni wheels in the center when they break. Just my thoughts
Do not use omni wheels. We used Omni wheels last year, (and while the center wheel didnt get busted (we had it on pneumatics that retracted the center wheel when needed), you will have no traction at all. I couldn’t even drive onto a step last year, unless I was driving head on, because it would just slip to the side, (and we were using 4 inch omnis). so there is literally no way it will work with rough terrain, (although if you have big enought wheels, like 8 inch, and go fast enough, you might be able to go over the rock wall). But trust me, there is almost no point of omnis, if a bot rams you from the side you’ll just keep rolling and get pinned, because you won’t have any traction. And unlike last year, you don’t really have to allign yourself in a certain way to pick up the ball (where as last year, most teams could only pick up totes from the front, do it was easier to manuever around).