I had a robot with small wheels about 3 inches diameter and 4wd and was able to turn left and right fairly well then I upgraded the wheels to 5 inch and it couldn’t turn at all, I read that this might be due to the platform being to narrow? By making the robot platform wider would it solve the turning problem with the bigger wheels?
I can’t find any websites that help you calculate your robot base size/dimensions, can you show me one? I know it should be wide, does it need to be a perfect square? Any help would be nice.
Yes. There are sites which give you an idea of the dimensions and ratios required for skid steering, but simply put, a long narrow chassis will not be able to turn whereas a wide chassis will turn easily (it’s closer to 2WD).
Hope this helps,
Tracked Vehicle Steering - Gizmology, references at bottom
General Theory for skid steering of tracked vehicles on firm ground - online journal
Search “tracked vehicle / skid steering / theory”. We have not seen any calculators - it’s all theory. You can also get dimensions of actual tanks to get an idea of length vs. width. It’s all about compromise.
Hope this helps,