Were might a guy buy some treads, or tread assemblies (with the wheels, etc)

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Rich Grise's Avatar (by Gravatar)Rich Grise posted on
November 20, 2006, 1:19 pm
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I've just started on a design project, and the guy wants tank treads on
his invention. Something along these lines:
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00114/images/tread.jpg
The point here being the treads and motors - what's on top is the
novel part of the invention, and proprietary.

The thing is, I'm wondering if it's possible to buy treads - imagine
that in the picture in the link above, the carriage (or whatever you
call it) is about 3' long and about 2' wide, and the treads are, say,
4"-6" wide.

Is there anyplace to buy suitable belting material or something, or
do I have to invent something from scratch, design new molds, and
pay somebody $50,000.00 for first item? =:-O

Where do the guys that do those battlebot thingies get their treads?

This isn't going to be a robot - the closest thing to smarts will be
the operator guiding it by a handle that has a "forward/reverse" knob.

The client didn't think about turning, but that's no problem - I'll just
have side-to-side motion of the handle drive the treads differentially.

I'd also like to see if I can find some ideas on building the idlers
and undercarriage and so on such that it's sand-proof. =:-O

Thanks,
Rich


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steamer's Avatar (by Gravatar)steamer posted on
November 20, 2006, 1:29 pm
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Re: Were might a guy buy some treads, or tread assemblies (with the wheels, etc)

    --Check out snow blowers.

--
        "Steamboat Ed" Haas         :  Why do weekend projects        
        Hacking the Trailing Edge!  :  always last a month??
                          www.nmpproducts.com
                   ---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

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John Nagle's Avatar (by Gravatar)John Nagle posted on
November 20, 2006, 1:34 pm
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Re: Were might a guy buy some treads, or tread assemblies (with the wheels, etc)


    In that size range, the cheap options are few.  Smaller, and you
can use Tamiya model tank tracks.  Larger, and you can use the
track assembly from a Bobcat.  But there are many commercial
robots in that scale, from iRobot and others.

    Here's a low-end tracked base in that scale:

    http://www.themachinelab.com/MMP-40.html

                John Nagle

Joe Strout's Avatar (by Gravatar)Joe Strout posted on
November 20, 2006, 4:01 pm
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Re: Were might a guy buy some treads, or tread assemblies (with the wheels, etc)

You might try the Lynxmotion treads and sprockets:

  http://www.lynxmotion.com/Category.aspx?CategoryID ”

HTH,
- Joe

Gordon McComb's Avatar (by Gravatar)Gordon McComb posted on
November 20, 2006, 3:40 pm
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Re: Were might a guy buy some treads, or tread assemblies (with the wheels, etc)

I offer smaller all-rubber tank treads and matching idlers/sprockets at
Budget Robotics. Might be handy for a small prototype. For larger,
Lynxmotion sells some that are about 2" wide, which is about as wide as
you will find right now for amateur/educational robotics or controlled
vehicles. You can always gang several parallel if you need wider still.

If you are looking for very rugged treads for an all-terrain vehicle,
the snowblower tracks Ed mentioned, as well as snowmobile treads, are
probably the best for metal. You'll have to order by model number, so
look at some replacement parts catalogs so you know what to order.

-- Gordon


Rich Grise wrote:


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Tim B's Avatar (by Gravatar)Tim B posted on
November 23, 2006, 2:35 am
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Re: Were might a guy buy some treads, or tread assemblies (with the wheels, etc)



One option for the treads is tabletop conveyor chain. Rexnord makes many
sizes and types in plastic and metal, and there are usually some available
on ebay for a reasonable price, though the widest I've seen there was 3.5
inches. You would need sprockets too, of course, which I have never seen on
ebay.



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