Hi everyone, so we built a prototype early in the season (May) for Over-Under utilizing tank tread with the idea that this would keep things light for climbing. There was a bit of a concern with using the tread based on what i read online, but after trying the prototype for the summer the tread did not come off once, so it seemed like it was safe to use. Unfortunately once we tried ordering new components at the start of the build season a lot of what we had used on the prototype wasn’t available anymore (sprockets, gears etc.), so had to do re-design on that and didn’t really focus on the drive train.
We started focusing on the drive train again last week and found that the new tank tread (ordered as the tank tread upgrade kit) is a lot looser and now we have a couple of robots running using the new components where the tread keeps coming off pretty reliably. Comparing the older and newer tread, the older tread is a lot stiffer (e.g. radius when bending on a flat surface is a lot larger than the newer tread). We’ve tried running the older tread on the new robot and vice-versa and the problem follows the tread.
I’m not sure if this is a change in the design of the VEX components or whether the older tread we had just “matured” over time and is generally stiffer.
Net I’m either looking to see how to get some older tank tread upgrade kits or if there is a way to stiffen the newer ones (i’m thinking of trying grease …). A redesign at this point is not feasible given the time and budget we have left unfortunately,
Any help / suggestions appreciated,
Thanks
Nick.