Hello VEX Forum!

One of my friends on Team 228 had come to me one night asking if I could help him design something, (of which we will play a game with explain later in the post) So I said sure I could help and this is just the beginning of what we are coming up with. I am taking this opportunity to teach him how to use Autodesk Inventor and the Basics of CADding.

Gus 228 and Aperture have partnered up to design something quite interesting!

Enjoy!

- Andrew

as much as i wish i could enjoy.... im either missing whats to be teasing me, or you forgot to put it into the post.

I'd like a fix to this mystery :)

My guess:
Drive system module. Tank tread drive with omni wheel just off to the right of the picture. This is the right-hand side of robot.

Am I right? :P

dont see how the omni's will be on the drive..

Why do you gear up the drive only to slow it right back down?

The output is driving a tank tread sprocket, so I'm guessing it's an end effector.

it goes up 1:3
then back down 2:1....
so its 1.5:1 at the end...

It's got 2 of what I assume to be 269 motors, with a final gear ratio of 3:2. I don't think that an end effector would have that much motor power, and that's about the right ratio for a drive. There does seem to be an omni in the right side of the picture. However, why would you have a second 12t sprocket next to the one apparently driven by those motors? Also, if it is a tank tread drive, why couldn't the tread go around the gears instead of the motors, saving a 5 wide C channel?

BEST pizza Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cody You have to get editing that video....

Also in relation to the questions : The student who's design this is will be answering all questions, His account is currently undergoing activation should be ready soon, So if you have any questions whatsoever please post and they will be answered.

Thanks

- Andrew

Hello Vex Forum!
I'm that, "designer" kid Andrew was talking about. Firstly I'll give you a little background about the project. Over the past couple of weeks I have been trying to come up with some no one has made before(as far as I know, and I did fairly extensive research). Then one night, it hit me. It was something so different, I got looks of pure terror when I explained it to a couple of mentors on GUS, which is exactly what I was shooting for. :]. I knew it could be done, but I knew I couldn't complete this task myself. So I enlisted the help of my buddy, master CADer, Andrew from Aperture. I knew this would be a great opportunity for both of our teams to collaborate, and come up with something truly innovative. So alright, enough about that. Now to the questions...

@RoboDesigners My guess:
Drive system module. Tank tread drive with omni wheel just off to the right of the picture. This is the right-hand side of robot.

Am I right? :P

Mayyyyyybe. But if it was an omni off to the right, what do you think it will be used for? :o.

@Totally Generic Name It's got 2 of what I assume to be 269 motors, with a final gear ratio of 3:2. I don't think that an end effector would have that much motor power, and that's about the right ratio for a drive. There does seem to be an omni in the right side of the picture. However, why would you have a second 12t sprocket next to the one apparently driven by those motors? Also, if it is a tank tread drive, why couldn't the tread go around the gears instead of the motors, saving a 5 wide C channel?

Yes, there are two 269's, and it is 3:2, but it's not an end effector. Also if it is a tank drive, could the tread maybe not go around the gears because it might interfere with something that hasn't been show in the picture just yet?

Also, just a reminder this isn't a completed CAD, modifications are still being made. But we will keep everyone updated.

-Dave

@murdomeek dont see how the omni's will be on the drive..

Look at the far right - there's an omni roller just visible... ;)

@davepowers Mayyyyyybe. But if it was an omni off to the right, what do you think it will be used for? :o.

Hmmm... I don't exactly know just yet... may need a couple more pics (:rolleyes:). Current guess: It's a tank tread drive for high-traction, but only when necessary. "Standard" drive will use the omni-wheel in the front, and another wheel in the back. This explains the use of the second sprocket - it drives the omni. (of course, this guess may change at any time... :D)

Andrew

I'm guessing I'm not allowed to comment on any Aperture/Gus projects, am I? :P

@RoboDesigners Hmmm... I don't exactly know just yet... may need a couple more pics (::rolleyes::). Current guess: It's a tank tread drive for high-traction, but only when necessary. "Standard" drive will use the omni-wheel in the front, and another wheel in the back. This explains the use of the second sprocket - it drives the omni. (of course, this guess may change at any time... :D)

Andrew

I don't want to release any information that could potentially divulge the project prematurely, but you're getting warm. ;]. They'll be another teaser picture released tomorrow night!

@unclejoe I'm guessing I'm not allowed to comment on any Aperture/Gus projects, am I? :P

If Andrew or anyone on Aperture told you about the project, then no. :P. But if you haven't been told about it feel free to contribute any questions or guesses! I trust you.

Also, I'm thinking of turning this into a contest. The first person to guess correctly will win a prize. I'm just not sure what the prize should be yet, ideas? :D.

-Dave

They'll be another teaser picture released tomorrow night!

What? When was I told about this? :P

i know
i know
can i get a prize pleazz and it better be a Gus shirt!! lol

I have no idea what you are trying to make, but thinking about it did give me an interesting idea. I'm too busy with my coax crab drive to try this out, but I'll post it in case somebody thinks it is worth pursuing:

Tank track + omni-wheel rollers = Omni track.

Attach omni-wheel rollers to segments of tank track. I'm not entirely sure now best to attach the rollers, but I suspect it could be done with some heavily reworked metal. You can use the rollers from your old 2.75" Omni wheels , since you know you want to replace them with dualies anyway ;)

You would need four tracks; one for each side of the bot's frame. It would drive just like a "+" config omni-bot, except you would have much more contact patch area for traction. Since the rollers would compensate for the off-center lateral forces near the corners of the bot, I think it would skid steer better than tracks alone.

Perhaps the best of omnis and tracks?
[EDIT]
OK, not as good as standard tracks for ground clearance and rough-terrain handling, but perhaps very good on a level field of foam tiles.
[/EDIT]
- Dean

@Quazar I have no idea what you are trying to make, but thinking about it did give me an interesting idea. I'm too busy with my coax crab drive to try this out, but I'll post it in case somebody thinks it is worth pursuing:

Tank track + omni-wheel rollers = Omni track.

Attach omni-wheel rollers to segments of tank track. I'm not entirely sure now best to attach the rollers, but I suspect it could be done with some heavily reworked metal. You can use the rollers from your old 2.75" Omni wheels , since you know you want to replace them with dualies anyway ;)

You would need four tracks; one for each side of the bot's frame. It would drive just like a "+" config omni-bot, except you would have much more contact patch area for traction. Since the rollers would compensate for the off-center lateral forces near the corners of the bot, I think it would skid steer better than tracks alone.

Perhaps the best of omnis and tracks?
[EDIT]
OK, not as good as standard tracks for ground clearance and rough-terrain handling, but perhaps very good on a level field of foam tiles.
[/EDIT]
- Dean

Believe me when I say this Omni tread is not something you want to tackle!!! Run away as fast as possible when your trying to make this HS legal for vex, and even college legal it has ALOT of parts believe me.

If anyone remembers this

http://polynomic3d.com/user/smith/Mechanum.png

When we used the Mecanum to post, the mecanum was a secondary design that came out of that. This was what we primarily wanted...

The amount of parts to go into a robot like that are immense. I think there are also a few people that can vouch for that as well, its to complicated for what its worth really. However if anyone wants to try to under go this challenge I would certainly like to see something along these lines....

- Andrew

@AndrewRemmers1902 The amount of parts to go into a robot like that are immense. I think there are also a few people that can vouch for that as well, its to complicated for what its worth really. However if anyone wants to try to under go this challenge I would certainly like to see something along these lines....

It clearly wouldn't be easy, but if you could work out a simple roller mount, then it would just be a LOT of the same parts. I guess it would be far easier to just mount several dualies along each side of the robot - you'd get more ground contact, and it could be put together in an afternoon.

Now if IFI made omni track links as an upgrade, that would be a different story...

Cheers,
- Dean