I have a robot that weighs about 8-10lbs, and has forward wheel drive. I was wondering, is it better to make the robot go faster, or to make the root stronger when it comes to driving? Also, is it better to have forward wheel driver or back wheel drive?
Most of these are really just preference. If you have a lighter robot, most likely you won’t be able to win any pushing matches, so I personally would go with getting a little extra speed. As for front/rear wheel drive, I usually like going with rear wheel drive, as I’m simply used to controlling that type of drive, and if you get up against a wall, and have a mechanism in the front of your robot, a front wheel drive will have some difficulty turning to get away from the wall. A rear wheel drive robot will usually have no problem.
Just my 2 cents.
~Jordan
It depends on what you want to do. I forget the exact benefits/disadvantages of each, but I think that rear wheel drive is better if you want to pull something, while front wheel drive is better if you want to push something. There also might be some traction benefits…
I always prefer all-wheel drive. If you can only drive two wheels, make them the ones under the heavier end of your robot. If you have two solid wheels and two omniwheels, put the omniwheels under the lighter end of your robot.