Create a Fast & Versatile Mecanum Chassis for Your FTC Robot

FTC kick-off will soon be here. If you are a rookie FTC team ready to make a splash this season or a veteran team plotting your next competitive advantage, constructing a versatile and fast Mecanum chassis is a great idea. The FTC Drive Base Kit from Studica Robotics offers the items you need to create drivetrain that is swift and resourceful. Designed primarily for FTC teams, this user-friendly robotics kit is also ideal for hobbyists, self-learners, and classroom projects. Studica Robotics offers an innovative building platform that prioritizes quality and safety, providing everything needed to build, learn, and compete. Whether preparing for a competition or exploring the world of robotics for fun and learning, this kit can help you get started.

Benefits of the Mecanum Chassis

The innovative slim Mecanum wheels from Studica Robotics are a standout feature of this kit. Each wheel is comprised of 12 black rollers mounted with steel ball bearings, making the roll more fluent. These wheels provide quick acceleration because they are lightweight and make the chassis capable of omnidirectional movement. Steel ball bearings reduce friction, allowing your robot to move easier and faster while reducing wear on the motors and load on the battery. This drivetrain is low to the ground making it easier to avoid obstacles on a robotics competition field. This Mecanum chassis offers speed and maneuverability.

Key Benefits:

• Fluent Movement: Ball bearings ensure that rollers move smoothly, reduce friction, and enable efficient motion.
• Reduced Wear: Ball bearings reduce the wear on the motors and load on the battery, enhancing the longevity of your robot.
• Quick Acceleration: Lightweight wheels allow for rapid acceleration, improving speed and agility.
• Omnidirectional Capability: Mecanum wheels can move in any direction without changing the orientation of the robot.
• Low Ground Clearance: This drivetrain is low to the ground, making it easier for your robot to avoid obstacles.

Why Choose the FTC Drive Base Kit?

This drive base kit includes the materials you need to create a Mecanum chassis, featuring innovative slim Mecanum wheels.

The FTC Drive Base Kit is a complete drivetrain solution that includes 4 - NeveRest Orbital 20 Gearmotors with encoder cables, new clamping shaft hubs, four bumpers, and the necessary hardware. Studica Robotics' channel components are durable, strong, and safe 3mm thick 6061-T6 aluminum that is deburred and polished. All the components work together seamlessly. View the complete list of FTC Drive Base components. Studica Robotics also provides STEP 3D files for each part, allowing you to easily design your robot in Solidworks, Inventor, Fusion 360, or Creo.

Key Features:

• Anodized Aluminum Channels: The structure is lightweight yet durable. These are ideal qualities for creating a fast and robust drivebase.
• Motors Recess into the Channels: This creates a 90° transmission system, that reduces wear and tear on the motors, as well as creating more space for your drivebase.
• Symmetrical Hole Pattern: This pattern is universal across all the Studica Robotics structural components, making them all compatible for extensive flexibility and customization to fit your team’s needs.
• User Friendly: Easy to assemble.
• Affordable: A great value, this kit is offered at a lower price than many competitors. View Cost.

Feedback from FTC Teams

"The aluminum anodized blue channel structure is superior to the rest. The channel is smoothed, and we aren’t cutting our hands like with the others. The hole pattern matches our existing channel but is far better as we can attach parts in more than just straight or 90 degrees. With the Studica hole pattern, we can position pieces at 16 different angles. This saves us from using additional parts saving space and money."

"The 100mm Slim Mecanum wheels are much better than from other vendors. They are slimmer, stronger, and roller assemblies don’t come apart."

"I love the Studica Robotics slide rails. They are smooth, have a lower profile, which will save a ton of room, and have predrilled and tapped holes which match the channel."

"I was particularly impressed with the clever design of the T-slot extrusions, being essentially a hollow tube with 4 T-Slots, providing exceptional torsional rigidity compared to the offerings from other vendors, while keeping the weight in check."

Conclusion

Building this drive base is an excellent STEM education exercise to get your robotics team competition ready. Get started by ordering the FTC Drive Base Kit from Studica Robotics to get the materials you need to build this impressive Mecanum Chassis. Once the chassis is built, your team can start focusing on building the mechanisms needed to compete. You can find the additional robot parts required to power this robot, including sensors and robot controllers at the Studica Robotics store.