I've just started on a design project, and the guy wants tank treads on his invention. Something along these lines:
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