Hi guys, I just started doing vex robotics and wish to get some help designing the drivetrain… What is the best drivetrain design so far, or what drivetrain do you use/ what drivetrain you used has the best performance? Is it better to use 6 motors for this year’s game? Thanks.
Definitely use 6 motors. As for the speed, visit this page by @Xenon27 called “catalogue of drive gearings” to help you choose a speed. (Around 450-480 RPM on 3.25 inch wheels is the usual). If you need some practice and experience before you design your own drivetrain, start by building the hero bot, and then use the engineering design process to continue innovating and adding your own features to the robot.
I think the best way to get help is to search the internet. Youtube channels like Joseph973 and 9MotorGang are the best for beginners. You can also find a lot of resources here on vex forum. I think what some people miss out is learning to use CAD software, so I would encourage learning it.
There isn’t a best drivetrain design, but I’ve seen people use 3.25 diameter wheels, with 6 motors attached in total, geared from 600RPM cartridge to 450RPM.
Yes. I highly recommend using 6 motors for this year’s game. But there is a learning curve. A huge problem beginner team’s face is drivetrain friction, which is the amount of force needed to run the drivetrain. If your drivetrain friction is too high, your motors overheat and it will start getting significantly slower in the match. If your drivetrain friction is uneven, your bot might not go straight when your driver inputs the same amount of power, making it difficult to drive the bot.
Some considerations when choosing a drivetrain design:
- Ability to park.
- Torque of the drivetrain. Lower RPM with the same amount of motors give you more torque.
- RPM of the drivetrain. Higher RPM allows you to manoeuvre around the field faster.
- The size of the wheels. Smaller wheels has higher pushing power.
I believe it’s quite unlikely even after you make the best design plan for your drivetrain, you won’t run into any trouble. So don’t try and spend too much time on the plan, most of the learning is when you build. 
Hope this was helpful. Happy building!
The most common drivetrain is a simple skid steer using 4-8 wheels, usually having the wheels near the middle be traction to prevent getting pushed and then having the wheels on the ends be Omni to make turning easier. Most common wattage is 44W bc it allows enough watts for other parts of the robot while also giving a strong drivetrain. There’s also other options like Meccanum, H drive, x drive
Overall I’d recommend using a 4 motor, 4 wheel skid steer as it’s incredibly easy to make
Ultimately though, make sure you’re designing it yourself and not using the forums to make your decisions