I'm looking for some large (4" or bigger) wheels for my "mars rover" robot. Stumbled across 1/8 or 1:8 RC cars that use very nice all terrain wheels. This would be perfect, except I have no idea how to attach them to the motors, I never seen them personally...
Anyone has any experience with this? Most use 17 hex hubs...
My motors use 6mm shafts...
Hubs
If they are standard RC wheels, they may have a hex pattern:
https://www.robotshop.com/en/talon-tires-pair.html
https://www.robotshop.com/en/28-talon-tires-pair.html
These are compatible with:
https://www.robotshop.com/en/lynxmotion-mounting-hub-12.html
Attaching wheels to motor shafts
I’ve found the simplest & most secure way to attach a wheel to a motor shaft is to drill a small hole through the motor shaft and push a “roll pin” through the hole. Then on the back side of the wheel, cut a slot through the center of the hole so that when the wheel is on the shaft, it is locked into place on the roll pin. If the motor shaft size is too small for the hole in the wheel, build up the size with hollow styrene rod, (or similar), and attach it to the motor shaft with “Epoxy Steel”. Once everything fits snugly, drill & tap a hole into the center of the motor shaft so that a bolt can be put through from the outside center of the wheel and tightened up to lock everything in place. Not only is this a simple & secure way of attaching wheels, the wheels are still easily removed if need be and both the wheels & motors can be repurposed.
Don’t overlook lawnmower wheels & baby stroller wheels as a source for larger robots. They are cheap, light weight, and easy to work with.
Depending on the size and
Depending on the size and specifics of your wheels, the technique they use with a hole saw for connecting wheels might work
Check out step 5:
