Im looking to buy the LM sometime over the summer. I know they are made with high quality and durability as all LM products are, but Im concerned about its ability of skid steering on cement and outdoor surfaces such as gravel ect. Can it drive easily over these kinds of terrain? My next project is mainly on an outdoor bot, so this is important information for me to aquire. Hopefully, Im looking to make this bot able to switch between tracks and wheels with simple changes.
any videos or testing done by owners of LM track sets will be my best bet of info.
Ive been pondering this for awhile ,wheels or tracks ,differentual drive or standard steering ,even thought about a half track ,now i,m considering this typerhex.net/
because it would work in water and brush, deep grass,and mud,and from my 4 wheeler expieriance wheels seem too get hung up on logs
(getting high sided)… i suppose every thing has got its draw backs
Track selection depends on what you actually want to use them for. Do some extensive googling on tracks to see the many ways they have been used in the past. Also consider how long the tracks will be. If the tracks will be used in a rough environment, then you may need to use sprockets as the idler wheels to keep the tracks aligned properly while turning.
bradsmith, those look neat and all, but i would think that they would get hung up in mud, they look like they dont have enough surface area to spread the weight out, and the “feet” would just slap into the mud and get stuck
yea, i was in the same thing as you italian guy, i have since figured out that problem and im going with tracks (obviously from all my posts about it ) as far as tracks go, 1) they are very strong in the case of LMs tracks this has been proven by the ppl who have the tracks. 2) i think as long as you have a decent width to length ratio, turning should be a problem, if its too narrow and the tracks are long, it would have some trouble
as to ur issue of turning on cement or gravel, i think gravel wouldn’t be too much trouble, as the gravel would be able to move under the tracks, cement though, im not sure about that, like i said u need a proper width to length ratio, i solved that problem by just getting very powerful motors, so even if there is some firction, they will be able to push through it, also, i never really thought of cement as offroad…
i plan to get the tracks this week (hopefully ) i will post a video for you as i am building the same type of bot
Thats my biggest fear (cement). Even my LM masher tires have difficulty. But my main focus is mostly on the friction and how the rubber would scrape off becuase of it. IDK if that rubber would wear fast from constant use.
if u put like a small paddle section at the ankle to the knee and made the leg flexible enough it would wind up on the axel and pull straight out of the mud and it climbs through brush piles no wheels or tracks can match that but at high speeds the vibration would be tremendous and they would have to be made for the weight of ur vehicle and they wont push or pull well so it got its limitations , i,m waiting for a flying tankboat with legs 8)
) as far as tracks go, 1) they are very strong in the case of LMs tracks this has been proven by the ppl who have the tracks. 2) i think as long as you have a decent width to length ratio, turning should be a problem, if its too narrow and the tracks are long, it would have some trouble
) i will post a video for you as i am building the same type of bot
