Hey all! my team is currently looking into building our chassis. we’re looking into a long one this year (kitbot). we were wondering if an 8 wheel mod may be bossible for this. can we also discuss some advantages of 8 wheel vs 6 wheel or the other way around?
You could do some investigating to see if it’s possible. What belt lengths are in the kit? how long would the side rails need to be to allow you to add another wheel, with the shortest belts?
My guess is that it might not all fit…but take a look, and see.
one advantage of 8 wheels is less room between the wheels, so you can traverse bumps more easily.
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A paper by Ben Bennett from Simbotics is quite useful for making such decisions, it gives a comparison of several drive train options, including 6WD tank vs 8WD tank.
Most info might not be useful but maybe it will be next year.
^ This, especially if you’re looking at using the drive train as [part of] a plan to get off of or on to the L2 or L3 platform.
The main advantages of using the kit in 6 wheel mode are simplicity, less weight and cost, and having two of your wheels “direct driven” (no belts), reducing the likelihood of losing the drive train due to broken or jumped belts. (though TBH, I’ve never seen a properly belt driven AM14Ux chassis break or jump a belt.)
Another option is to run the kitbot as is, and put all the time and effort into handling the game pieces better.
agreed. just maybe tackling the platforms at the end 8 wheel could be better? we’re doing a long chassis. just looking into seeing if that’s possible
This is back in stock. There was a slight delay on one of the custom length spacers but it’s all good now. The detailed drawings on how to assemble it are also now live. This is one of my favorite upgrade kits and the one my team will be using this year.