hey look at this cool new wheel from IFI that I found. 
cool aint it?
Is that a game hint? Does that mean weāll need more traction next year?
very cool. now i know what i want for christmas. hereās hoping these ship in the kitā¦
Here maybe even more of a hint: http://ifirobotics.com/images/wheels/IMG_0152.jpg
is that theā¦kit chassis?
Oh and on the andymark wheels are 4", 5", and 6" outside diameter whereas the IFI wheels are 4", 6", 8". Other changes that I noticed where the differences in the Tread with (a key player in friction)
Outside Diameter-Width (of tread)
AndyMark
4"-1.3"
5"-1.8"
6"-1.8"
IFI
4"-1", 1.5", 2"
6"-1", 1.5", 2"
8"-1", 1.5", 2"
Anyone notice the title of the page?
Hey, Iām not my dad, I dont know anything! :ahh:
I just thought these were cool, although the kit frame at the bottom (or what appears to be) might signals somethingā¦ :yikes:
The method of construction they chose to use is very interesting.
the one feature that makes me like these more is that (it appears) you can attach sprockets on both sides of the wheels. also, it appears that it would be relatively easy to make a hub for these that could keyed, and fit on the inside of the wheel.
It also appears that the wheels are flat on the sides so they can be āstackedā to make them 2 or 3 (or more) wheels wide. Another nifty design feature. Hmm, by combining wheels of 1", 1.5", or 2" width you can have just about any width wheel you want in 0.5" increments. I wonder if they will be included in the KoP or how much they will cost. They seem to made from all stamped and bent flat material so they should be fairly cost effective/cheap. Cool design!
One of the things I like about IFI, AM, etc. offering these kind of cool products is that they bring good solid engineering solutions to many teams that have little chance of rolling their own.
Beatty, WildStang, TechnoKats, Chief Delphi, International Fuel Cell, etc, they have had access to these solutions from day one. Now many many more teams can have them on their robots.
I think it is a good thing.
Joe J.
For some odd reason these wheels smell like JVN (and by the way might wanna coinsider some new deoderant dude) :-p
Thatās what he wants you to thinkā¦ Or maybe thatās what you want us to thinkā¦
Ha! Our team used that tread stuff on our wheels last year. It did work very well.
I do not think that these have anything to do with this yearās game or are a hint in any way. I do however thing they are a nifty product. They look extremely light weight yet adequately beefy. Who would have thought of using sheet metal for wheels? There is no price, but i am guessing that these should be signifigantly cheeper than offerings from places like RobotCombat.com and AM which are either turned or cast. My only complaint is that there is no 5/8" shaft option, but all you need to do is buy different bearings.
----- edit ------
It is interesting to note that the page title is āIFI Robotics - FRC 2005 Kit Partsā. perhaps they will be in the kit or we will receive a voucher to order whatever size we want.
I would almost guarantee these will be shipped with the kit frame. In FIRSTās new neverending quest to try to equalize teams, they released the kit-bot. In actual competition, the frame and gearboxes seemed to perform very well, but teams using the skyway wheels were at a major disadvantage. From experience, they slid sideways more easily than simply pushing against them. FIRST will once again attempt to equalize the playing field by adding more support to the kit frame. I should say rather that FIRST is trying to raise the level of competition.
For this conjecture to have a hope, wouldnāt it need to read āIFI Robotics - FRC 2006 Kit Partsā <grin>?
-Kevin
Weāre on to you lilālavery, you and your trickeryā¦
And then if they do include them in the KOP, I would almost guarentee that there would be an outlash of criticism from the community complaining that in their quest to help make this thing easier on rookies and newer teams, IFI subsequently made it so their robot canāt turn 