I posted this in a different older thread and was told to make a new one, so here goes:
As part of a summer job, I was tasked with making a complex robot for middle schoolers to learn to code on. I chose to make a basic swerve, and while I wanted to make a full differential swerve, thought that would be too complex for them to code. That said, the normal swerve and funky spring-loaded intake rollers were still quite fun to build! Even without any lubricants, it runs with very little friction, and I figure you all may enjoy seeing the above meme of a video.
If someone wants to take this design further consider the following:
- waterjet a single-piece cage out of a large baseplate, then bend it to size.
- Cantilever the secondary bevel to allow for a larger 4" wheel
- replace the linear slide turntable bushings with a stronger (albeit taller) lathed 60T vex gear, or use parts of a dissected"2.6" diameter Turntable Bearing"
- Code it with a gyro for field-oriented control
- Use a rubber band winch-style spring (band wraps around a middle layer between turntable gear and wheel cage) to have more accurate turning, as the winch spring would apply constant torque to the gears, reducing slop. This would definitely make the assembly taller and prevent infinite rotation, but would significantly improve driving performance.