My team has been debating and came up with a way to use sprockets and chain to a get 300 rpm drive. A 200 rpm motor driving an 18 tooth sprocket to a 12 tooth sprocket.(18/12= 0.6- 200/0.6= 300.0) My question is: which would have more friction if built correctly, chain drive or gear drive? I have tested chain drive long time ago but still unsure.
Have you tried gear drive?
If not, test it. Pay attention to grip, since that is what we’re focusing on. How well does it stay put when other robots may bump into it? How well does it drive over the 2" PVC Barrier in the middle of the field? Ask yourself questions! After testing it, maybe make a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast your results. Then, select which you feel has a better grip.
C. Rhineheart
9545C Team
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Generally speaking, a well built chain drive would see few differences in friction, and even potentially less (less moving parts) friction than a gear drive. However, in practice gear drives usually win out the battle, because they have less slop, and are easier to optimise. Slop is essentially how much the motor needs to spin to get the wheel to turn, and chains increase that if they are not tensioned correctly. Gear drives are overall great as well because it is easier to incorporate 6m drives into them, since sprocket and chain systems require lots of precise positioning to make sure each powering sprocket never skips along the chain.
as someone who has done a 12 to 18 sprocket drive before I will say I cannot recommend them. Even with screw joints, minimized chain length, and proper building techniques you will always have more friction and a little less accuracy with your coding which really adds up in autonomous skills. I think everyone can see the appeal of sprocket bases for their ability to give a wider range of ratios, avoidance of difficulty with gears meshing, and often more control of motor placement those things come with their cons as well. It’s certainly worth considering and weighing the pros and cons yourself but I just thought I’d give my opinion as someone who has experience with it having used it for the second half of spin up.
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