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Boe-Bot tank treads. — Parallax Forums

Boe-Bot tank treads.

Robot_Robot_ Posts: 2
edited 2008-09-13 05:35 in Robotics
·They are definitely not worth the price I paid for them.· The treads·continually skip and derail when turning.· Not to mention they came with absolutely no assembly instructions so I had to hunt them down off the website.· The treads can also be bought from other retailers for a fraction of what parallax sells them for.· Anyone considering purchasing them is better off·designing their own.· I am really disappointed with the quality I thought for sure Parallax would only put good·quality items·in their catalogs.mad.gifskull.gif

Comments

  • Bryan MoscatoBryan Moscato Posts: 5
    edited 2008-09-11 00:24
    Hey

    I agree that the treads are pretty useless.· Mine slip off even on smooth surfaces like wooden or tiled floors.· I've tried placing pressure down on the tread using some of the spare parts directly aft of the spur gear that is attached to the servo; but this was only a temporary fix as it stretches the treads out which causes more slippage.

    If you want to stay with the Boe-Bot platform read what MSDTech did here using some VEX parts:
    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=734266

    I ended up just purchasing·a lynxmotion rover to use as my platform.· http://www.lynxmotion.com/Category.aspx?CategoryID=30

    Bryan
  • iamdenteddiskiamdenteddisk Posts: 66
    edited 2008-09-11 01:14
    hi guys ,though I am not in your shoes at this moment or an employ of parallax with the authority to answer your comment.
    I have seen many ,many of these bot buyers with the same issue and most time if you read the forums these tred problems can be attributed to building the robot out of sequence to the instructions ,meaning
    The treds go on when the wheells do in a single step, not streched to fit or poped on after and also I seen this once attributed to a bushing or spacer being placed on the wrong side of the chassis causeing the tred to be bumped off by the spacer. most times it is because the tred is streched and no longer fits correctly so if you dont have a spacer in the wrong place then you may as well buy a new tred set and take off the wheels to reassemble-in the same step without streching the tred.

    best wishes,

    P.S- I have bought plenty from parallax and know they have provided me with quality goods and services at a rate of 100% thus far and would be willing to bash them if not but-for now would be willing to buy all my needs through them for the quality they provide even shipping was quicker than I expected.

    "if you want to build a kit robot you got to follow the steps described in the instructions to the "T" meaning it has to be put together using the exact same methods,steps,tools as its prototype was."

    On the other hand you can use the parts to make a robot on a chasis of your own design as I did and will do agian the outcome is much more expressive,gratifying and will give you the ability of saying "I built a unique robot of my own design and only I know how to do it" ,sure someone else can see it and try but if the exact steps,mesurements,methods are not followed to the "T" , then they wont be happy.
  • Steve JoblinSteve Joblin Posts: 784
    edited 2008-09-11 16:06
    I too have suffered with the treads falling off... I finally came up with a modified design that seems to work... you can see a picture of it here --> http://roebotz.spaces.live.com
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2008-09-11 16:16
    Hey everyone,

    I have built quite a few robots with our tank treads on them without issue. I think only one required any adjustment to work correctly. What I have seen from a few customers with failures who sent theirs in is loose axles, bent side frames, stretched tread sections (from pulling them off the frame, rather than cutting them off) and even incorrect wheels on the axles, since there are extra parts. When installed correctly and without bends or other anomalies, these units work well for a small robot such as the BOE-Bot. I’m sorry to hear you had such issues.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Chris Savage
    Parallax Engineering
  • MSDTechMSDTech Posts: 342
    edited 2008-09-11 21:26
    Even though I ended up with the VEX treads, I want to point out that the Parallax treads worked fine as long as the Boe-Bot stayed on the hardwood kitchen floor. It wasn't until it wandered onto the high pile carpeting that it began to experience problems. Once it threw the treads turning on the carpet, then they got a little streached and began to have problems. It should also be pointed out that my Boe-Bot was growing and the heavier weight didn't help.
  • SRLMSRLM Posts: 5,045
    edited 2008-09-13 05:35
    They only really work well on hard, smooth surfaces (hardwood, smooth concrete, linolium...) Even short carpet seems to throw them off.

    As for the source of the problem, I think the issue is the wheels. On close inspection, they appear to be rounded quite a bit on the edges. This leads to the slipping, since the treads can progress in incremental steps to hop off.

    As for instructions: none of the Parallax stuff comes with printed instructions. They're all put online for you to view.
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