Custom Tread Track System

thingiverse

This is a custom track system created with the FTC 2016 ResQ game in mind, created by team 9826 - The Melting Clocks, by CAD designer Thomas Lewis. Each of the wheels and the track links were designed to be 3D printed, and the inserts were created for polyurethane to be poured into the mold and cut into inch strips. The mold itself was created in five pieces to be cut on a laser cutter and then stacked atop each other. Then to get the cleats into the links, we would apply a drop of alcohol into the link and slide it in. The wheel hub is supposed to be cut out on a lathe (we used aluminum), attached to the drive motors (Andymark Neverest 40's were what we used), and then the drive wheel mounted to that. To pin these tracks together, we used 1/8 inch rods cut into inch pieces and used a hammer to get them through. Also, to give the tracks more movement, we would drill out the male side of the link so that it would spin freely over the hole and not bunch up. We'd also clean up the pieces a little just to prevent any extra binding and whatnot. Though if your printer is higher quality you might not need to. There are also chamfered versions of the wheels, however they were never finished and thus never printed. Here is a playlist of the robot and tread system in action: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXIvdqjM_EZhjb7LubGQLJWMBwnxDATg0 And specifically the robot climbing the ramp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxI2iRplbYE&index=1&list=PLXIvdqjM_EZhjb7LubGQLJWMBwnxDATg0 UPDATE: I just added the DXF and DWG files for the cleat molds if want to skip that step and go straight to laser cutting. Post-Printing A printed link The entire system together. How I Designed This Tread Link Render Urethane mold Drive Wheel for Drive Wheel Hub Wheel Hub Wrapping the links around a wheel to check the dimensions