Hallow every one I am from tweam 1946 , first I hope good lock to all FRC teams.
Last year we have problem with Transmission vary bad fraction, we will be glad if some can explained which way is batter for driving the robot is it by:
two drill motors hooked up via direct drive to the wheels
using tank steering
Driving by tow gears
Thank you SO much in advance for any help we may receive.
Team
1946
There is too much friction in the gearboxes or on the tires/wheels?
At this point, I’d see what you can do to remove the friction, or if they’l ship to you and you can afford it, buy a couple of these: http://andymark.biz/am-0011.html
with regards to drill gearboxes, I think you have better options elsewhere. Also, keep in mind that only the motors in the kit + 2 small CIM + 1 large CIM are allowed. No other motors.
“Tank” steering is an excellent way to drive your robot. You do need to keep in mind, however, that if you have TOO MUCH traction on all your wheels you will have a hard time turning. If you are doing a two-wheel drive setup, make sure your non-driven wheels (the ones under the “lighter” end of the robot) are very low friction so they can slide from side to side. If you are going with a four-wheel drive set up, then put your high traction wheels on the “heavier” end and some low traction wheels on the “light” end. You may wish to consider omni wheels as an option for the low traction end.
As for the gearbox it is unusual that you would have had friction problems with last year’s gearboxes, however with this year’s you will find that if you run them without any load for 20 or 30 minutes that the friction will drop off quickly. You will also want to note that while there is a two-motor adaptor for the 56mm banebots transmissions that came in the kit, there is a thread here on Chief Delphi suggesting that the transmission is best with only one CIM motor attached to it.
There are also some documents on the ifirobotics web site that will help you see how they hook up this year’s transmission and kit of parts frame.
Good luck, have fun… hope this helps,
Jason
Rule R45 allows the purchase of up to two additional 2-1/2" (small) CIMs for use on your robot.
<My bad. I didn’t read the above quote correctly.>
To check out where the friction might be, try moving the wheels or treads without the gearbox or motors attached. If that is smooth, add the gearboxes (if you are using any) and try moving them again. If that is smooth, add the motors and try it again. That should help you figure out where the friction is coming from.
Good luck.
Personally, we are going to use the tank style drive control. We figured it might give us a little better steering.