Does a 6 motor drive usually need a PTO?

I’ve seen a lot of drivetrains that have 6 wheels and 6 motors, but if you use 6 motors, you only have 2 left for end effectors. Do you usually need a PTO to be able to build a 6 motor drive, and what would you connect it to? In my team, I have a limited supply of pneumatics, so in Spin Up for example, you would NEED a PTO for a 6 motor drive.

No; in fact, a pto is complicated and better off avoided if possible. If you can use the other 22 watts of motor power well, you can get by with a 6 motor drive without a pto.

Not necessarily. Many of the past games have been able to been competed in the past with only 2 motors to complete most if not all tasks that net points. However, if you feel like a PTO would benefit your team, it is a viable option to have one.

The vast majority of competitive bots in spin up were 6m drive, 1m shooter, and 1m intake with no pto and minimal use of pneumatics. Many early season robots for over under have a similar motor distribution and could definitely be viable. In general, a pto is not needed, nor is prolific pneumatic use to have a competitive bot with 6m drive. Whether you should run a 6m drive is up to how you want your bot to play the game, and what that means for the motor distribution.

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You don’t need a PTO to build a 6-motor drive, but if you want to connect it to something else, go ahead. What you power with your PTO is up to you. (Though, as a tip… Whatever you power with your PTO should probably be something that usually you use when the robot is not driving around; this would allow you to still use the 6-motor drive as a 6-motor drive).

Also…

Most PTO-s utilize pneumatics to function.

And take a look at these threads regarding the not new 5.5W motors: :slightly_smiling_face:

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Does it need one, no. Is it a bad idea to have one? No. Different solutions/ designs for this game will have different needs for power, so it all depends on what your team decides needs power. Consider if your team will benefit from adding PTO by assessing the added flexibility of power management. It might not be worth the added friction/ time need to design and build.

Then what would you recommend for Over Under? If I did a 6 motor drive, that leaves either 2 for intake, or 1 for intake and 1 for cata or puncher, and both without a motor for climbing(if needed). Would you have to use 5.5w motors for intake, or something similar?

Well, you could always do what many teams did last year and ratchet a single motor between a puncher or catapult and an intake, saving you a whole motor for climbing. Or ratchet a cata or puncher to a hanging mech… many possible combinations.
Or, you could do 6 motor drive, 1 launcher, 1 intake, and pto some drive motors to a hanging mech.

A configuration my team has been debating is a 6m drive, 2x 5.5watt motor intake, 1m shooting mech. For the endgame we would use a simple PTO that engages all 6 drive motors with the climbing mech.

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