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| PROS | CONS |
- Lighter → no power transmission system needed
- More compact, allows for a larger chassis
- More reliable → if one motor fails, only that wheel is compromised rather than a whole left/right side of the drivetrain
| - More points of failure by controlling each wheel independently
- Longer wires, require protection
|
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Integrated in
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the wheels
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| PROS | CONS |
- Motors are protected from damage while traversing obstacles
| - Requires custom hubs to mount the motors to
- Either have to tear apart COTS wheels or design completely custom wheels
- Probably easier to design custom wheels
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External to wheels
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Can still contain the actuator outside of the wheels and protect them within some housing
| PROS | CONS |
- Not constraining the wheel width to be wide enough to fit the motor and gearbox
- Easy to implement on COTS wheels → no requirement for custom wheels or hubs, maybe a custom interface plate
| |
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Chain Drive
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, General
| PROS | CONS |
- Easy to install/remove and repair
- Sprockets come in small diameters
- Less likely to skip while carrying heavy loads
| - High maintenance → requires tensioning, cleaning, and lubrication
- Heavy
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Belt Drive, General
| PROS | CONS |
- Low maintenance → once installed, shouldn't need tensioning, no lubrication required
- Light
| - Precise machining required to position the belts properly so that they don't loosen over time
- Harder to install and uninstall → require accessible openings that's the entire length of the belt
- Typically rely on pulleys that are larger in diameter to sprockets
- More likely to skip while carrying heavy loads
- Fixed lengths of belt
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Wheel Motors in a Combined Gearbox
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PROS | CONS |
- Can use as many/as few motors as desired
- Motors and gearing all contained in one area that can be located away from potential harm
| - Not useable for all drivetrain styles
- Bulky
- If one motor fails, compromises the performance of all wheels connected to that gearbox
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Wheel Motors Isolated, Not Directly Mounted
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On this drivetrain, the chain runs through the boxtube for each wheel and uses 3D printed covers to protect the access holes to the wheel sprockets
PROS | CONS |
- Can position the actuators away from potential harm
- Easy to mount the actuators
| - Long wiring + power transmission required = many points of failure
- To protect would require additional casing/structures, which is more weight
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