Progress on the wheel mechanism has gotten off to a great start. We have settled on a 4 wheel design with the two front wheels connected to two individual DC motors via a gear system. The back wheels will be connected to the base with swivel joints. The advantages of this design are many. First, it will be an easy system to program into the arduino. To turn our robot, we will only have to adjust the speed of one motor. For instance, to turn right, the right motor would be slowed. The back wheels will be attached by swivel joints so that when the front wheels are turning, the back wheels won't drag. The front wheels will be connected to the base via two separate axles, each connected to gear trains that connect to the motors. Another advantage is the sheer force provided by the integration of two DC motors, each providing a significant source of power. The third advantage to be found in such a design is the relative mechanical simplicity of the steering mechanism. Rather than building and programming a convoluted power steering system which requires the implementation of many separate moving parts, the drive is simply powered by two DC motors that speed up or slow down to provide a simple steering system.
The following picture is an idea for the type of wheels to be used. We are currently looking into LEGO pieces to provide the gears and axle for the front wheels.
Below is a visual representation of the DC motor/gear system used to drive the wheels.
-Shyam Sheth, Brendan Victor
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