What Wheels Should My Robot Use?

@PreferNotToDisclose That’s really hard to troubleshoot without seeing it. We’d really need to see some photos of the setup - can you create a new topic on the RobotShop Forum? If you’re not comfortable showing the actual thing, can you sketch it?

hii soo i have a question and it will be really helpful if you answer it asap caz m kind of confused actually we r designing a wheel robot for a competition (a race ) but the problem is track of this race is inclined and according to rules of this race we can only used two 2 high torque motors provided by race organization and even the source of our driving power is limited to only 12 volts that why m kind of confused what kind of drive will b most efficient for the vehicle and how number of propelled wheels and free wheels effect the motion and drive of the vehicle.

@Pranjal You would use skid steering - one motor on each side. The idler wheels (one or two) don’t have any effect.

Hello sir,

I am making wireless robotic car for my school project. I have 12 v battery and two motors of 150 rpm. and the car should climb ramp of nearly 22 degree inclined slope. How to calculate radius of wheel based on given specification so that car easily climb without any slip.
Weight of car is assumed nearly 5 to 7 kg.

waiting for your reply.
Thank you

@yatin It’s not just a question of radius, but also traction (tread pattern), tread material (rubber ideally), wheel width and RPM, as well as the weight per wheel. It’s a bit too complex for such a simple article, but knowing there is interest, we’ll see if we might create a guide / tutorial in the future.

@Coleman, What are the advantages of larger wheel size? Does a Larger diameter imply more friction and thereby more stability ?

@Vijay Generally speaking, larger diameter wheels cover greater distance for the same revolution / rpm, and also allow for greater ground clearance. However, larger wheels tend to require more powerful motors. Wider wheels increase the friction / contact area between the wheel and the surface. It all depends on your application, and there are other factors to consider like tread type etc.

@ Coleman Hi, I was wondering if you could suggest a way we could mount tracks with a nylon webbing on the inside onto a robot. In my robot group we have wheels for the treads but because of the nylon webbing, if we were to put the nylon webbing surface directly on the wheels, the tracks would slide around on the wheels easily. We are also putting a lip on the wheels so that the tracks do not slide off horizontally but this may be a problem when we actually try to run the robot. Any possible suggestions?

@Madi Not entirely sure what you mean - you want to create tracks using nylon webbing and normal wheels? You need something to keep the track aligned. Feel free to create a new topic on the RobotShop Forum and upload images / sketches.

Hello sir… I am making a robot for a competition (dimensions30x22x30) Now the competition requires that the same robot could run on land as well as on water. Now can u pls help me with the design so that I can.keep the robot lightweight as well as strong enough. And yes pls do.suggest which motors should i use of how much RPM

@Sumit The questions are conceptual, so we suggest creating a new topic on the RobotShop Forum and we will answer you there.

Hi,
I need to design a robot to move over banks of up to 45 degree incline. Additionally the robot should also be able to go over 30 to 50 mm hurdles. Robot weight would be more than 50kg and shall move with a speed range of 20 to 50m/min.
Could you suggest some resources to help with this design?

Regards,
Aparna

@Aparna Estimate the motor and battery specs you will need with the following tool: https://www.robotshop.com/blog/en/drive-motor-sizing-tool-9698

Sir,
I am making a robot and the weigh of my robot is 10 kg

Torque of motor = 15kg/cm
Battery = 12 volt and 8Ah
Wheel radius = 11cm
But I am suffering from a problem and that is my robot is not able to move on slopes , sand .
So please give me answer why it is happening with solution
And please suggest me which motor drive is best for this robot and that motor driver should be pre programmed and can be usable with out aurdino and motor driver should be capable to give 5 ampere to each channel
Motor driver should be of 4 channel
Thank you
Give me answer fast

Sir, can u tell me, what are the advantages of a chain driven robo car like on 4wd rover over normal DC motor shaft connected to the tyres. And how can we build chain driven ones

@Ravinder bishnoi Your motors are either underpowered, and/or the design has the wrong dimensions. Please create a new topic on the RobotShop Forum and provide details of the motors, the weight of the robot etc.

@Sunil Chain drives mean the weight of the robot is not supported directly by the output shaft of the gear motor, and also have the potential to add a gear down. How to create one is beyond the scope of this article.

sir,
i would like to make an gesture controlled UGV for my project ,can u pls suggest what type of wheel will be suitable for my project…?

@Sourish Not sure what you mean by “wheel”? Creating a gesture controller will be the harder part, since that will involve creating a custom controller, transmitter, communication protocol etc. It’s quite a programming intensive project.

If I build a 4 wheel drive unit can I just connect the motors on each side in parallel so they both turn in unison? I intend placing them close together and using a basic wheelchair controller and joystick?