Boe-Bot wheel treads keep falling off

kevinb2050

has anyone come up with a way to keep the Boe-Bot wheel treads on the wheel
when bot does a pivot turn they allways come off
I have thought about using glue but then I will need to replace them sometime in the future and I am concerned about the glue damaging the plastic wheels
I do not know of a better wheel to replace them with, besides I use them with the encoders so I need the holes in them.
Very technical question EH!!!!!!


Post Edited (kevinb2050) : 9/4/2008 1:27:34 AM GMT

Chris Savage

Kevin, you should edit your message using the pencil icon to the top right of the message to provide a subject accurate to the subject of your message.

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Chris Savage
Parallax Engineering

MSDTech

If you are talking about the rubber tires on the BOE-Bot wheels, it sounds like you may have streached them. Try another set to see if they are streached. On article I saw on increasing the traction for plastic wheels (or treads in the case of the article) was to use the spray on plastic they use for tool handles. You can buy it at many hardware stores and with a little masking in the wheels should give you a nice tight rubber like tire. I have a can in my shop and a BOE-Bot wheel where the original rubber tires are about shot. I'll try this over the weekend and re-post the results.

Post Edited (MSDTech) : 9/5/2008 5:39:20 PM GMT

Steph Lindsay

That's a good idea MSDTech. I have only rarely had the rubber tires coming off of the wheels for me.·Then again, when I program a pivot maneuver, I am not keeping one wheel still while turning the other - I always move the wheels in opposite directions to make the Boe-Bot turn on its center.

kevinb2050

Like that idea MSDTech will try it out Thanks !
I have stopped pivoting a wheel while I turn to reduce this problem but the Boe-Bot wheel bands seem to roll themselves off. The grooved profile of the wheels should allow a tight fit for a plastic spray on mold.

MSDTech

Well, I tried the plastic and got some mixed results. I think I need to work on the application technique. Keep in mind, this was first suggested in the VEX forums for their plastic treads. Those are much easier to setup for the spray, as they lay flat and can be coated without need to move them.
I originally wanted to mount the wheels on a rotating platform, but since the spray is highly flamable, I decided I didn't want an electric motor operating in the spray booth. I also found the material will soften styrene plastic - my first set of holders softened and dropped the wheels while the spray was still wet and I had to clean off the first attempt. The final result wasn't pretty, but the surface produced has traction and seems tightly adheared to the wheel. The next area to test is the durability of the coating and how easy it will be to remove when a new coat is required.

kevinb2050

keep up the good work - I have found a product here in Australia called "Plasti Dip" by Perfomix which sounds like what you are using. but as it is highly flamable it is expensive to ship I have not been able to get any yet locally. They have some that you can dip the item into. So I thought if you left the wheel on a servo and slowly rotated it while the wheel edge was in the liquid it would put a coating on it - this may need to be done over several coatings to get the thickness required - just a thought ?

MSDTech

The concern I had was sparking in the brushes on any motor, particularly a servo motor. The fumes were fairly strong while I was spraying, fortunetly, I am a model railroader and have a vented spray hood. But I didn't want to turn the hood into a warm glowing fireplace.

Duffer

Here are a couple of links to some tires that have worked for me on several Boe Bots. These fit very well on the Boe Bot's wheels because of their "U" shape rather than the flat "rubber band" treads that come with the Boe Bot. I've not had a single instance of them comming off the wheels on any surface.

http://www.lynxmotion.com/Product.aspx?productID=303&CategoryID=39

http://www.junun.org/MarkIII/Info.jsp?item=34

It appears that they are the same item, but·Junun has a better price. Thanks to "erco" for the Junun link.

Duffer

Post Edited (Duffer) : 9/12/2008 10:16:24 PM GMT

kevinb2050

Thats what we need the sticky tyre from lynxmotion - but I use decoders so I need at least 8 holes - come on parallax make some tyres for us

Duffer

The tires from Junun should fit the stock Boe Bot wheels which I measure at 66 mm. Just slip them on your existing wheels and you should be good to go.

From the Junun part description: "Tire thickness of 3mm will increase the diameter of the Mark III wheels from 67mm (with rubber band tires) to 71mm."

Duffer

kevinb2050

Just some feedback:- I got the Junun Tigerbotics Traction Tires (see link above) $6.00 a pair for Zac (my Bot). Delivery to Australia was very good and you can pay using Paypal instead of giving out credit card details.
They fit perfectly, do not roll even when put thru sharp turns
Zac is has a Boe-Bot chassis which has been widened to allow for the extra battery packs he carries and extra boards (has 4 boards - BOE, Parallax servo controller,speakjet and a misc board for shift registers connectors etc.
He also has a robotic arm fitted on the front of the chassis plus his body head (servo mounted Ping Sensor) - so all in all with the extra weight the tires worked fine.
I have Parallax wheel encoders fitted so I have had to recalibrate movement as the tires increase the distance of 1 revolution by approx 15mm - I did have concerns prior to purchase as to if the tires would clear the encoders. - they do with ease
I got a spare set just in case of wear but being in Australia and living upside down we have less gravitational force on tires so I should not need to replace them for a long time.

kevinb2050

sorry about the last line - bit of Aussie humour
But then Parallax did use the Kangaroo when they designed the Boe-Bot
two feet (wheels) and a tail (pivot ball) to support the body (chassis) balance