Hi, I am from team 4403.
Back during building season, we introduced our invention, the CIROWHEELS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXh2aiaGkFo).
These are airless shock absorbing wheels intended for FRC use.
During champs, I saw a team walking with their robot and noticed they had similar wheels. Actually they had the same design but using different materials.
I rushed to ask them about their wheels and they told me to visit their pit but later I couldn’t remember the team number and division.
If someone saw them, or you are actually a team member of this team, could you please raise your hand?
I am really interested in talking to this team.
First of all, because we didn’t actually implement this wheels in our robot, and are happy that a team actually did so.
Second, I would want to know if they were inspired in our video or not. Not to ask for recognition, but because I find pretty cool that someone came out with the same idea, and want to give them a shout out.
So please, raise your hand!
PS. I remember the team number started with a 5.
you’re thinking of 5439, Huskies?
How did those wheels hold up for you? They look very breakable. What material is the clear stuff in the middle? And did they maintain their form?
Hey those are pretty nifty looking! Also curious in durability.
Hi. This wheels were developed and used in the test robot shown in the video, but because we didn’t want to invert more time in the development on the wheels and rather focus on the other mechanisms, we decided to leave them as a side project.
As you stated, in some tests, the leaf springs broke. So iteration is needed to establish the proper material, width, and shape of the springs.
A couple of links to show other wheels of similar design from the past couple of years, both in small format (bicycle and such) and large format (full size vehicles and warehouse/construction type). Neat to see something possibly coming about in an FRC type of application.
Bicycle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPKY1pFyqu8
Michelin Tweel (first one I remember watching years ago after seeing it in a car magazine article)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HccKHIK2fj0
Compilation of what several manufacturers have come up with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGoPN-QSblk