Anybody make their own wheels?

[JustANerd]

Hey folks!

First time on the site, and first post.

I've been pretty mechanical my entire life, and as a kid I used to try to build robots all the time. Now that I am an old man and pretty much disabled, (hips and back are shot due to an old injury) I have a lot of time to kill. Picked up a book on how to build a raspberry pi robot. He uses some parts that are just really impractical for me. One is the wheels. I can't find the powerwheels parts in the right size no matter where I look. So, I am considering trying to make my own.

I am thinking plywood and hardboard. Pluwood for the hub, and hardboard for the "tire". Hardboard can be bent easily with a heat gun, so that part is no problem at all. Found some traction strips that are rubber from my local hardware store, so slippage won't be a problem either. Only issue I might see is deformation of the hardboard from moisture outside, but I think I can seal it well enough to keep that from happening.

This ends up being a pretty large bot, so I was wanting some opinions. 3/4 ply for the hubs, spoked and/or holes to lighten it up without losing integrity is my preference. Any other ideas?

book I bought:  https://www.amazon.com/Make-Raspberry-Pi-Controlled-Robot-Building/dp/1457186039/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473284119&sr=1-1&keywords=raspberry+pi+robot

[mklrobo]

  Hello!

In reference to your wheels, I would try Tractor Supply. American Science and Surplus (online)
has some wild items, that may help.
        Insofaras your Raspberry Pi, the problem with that will be integrating RPIO library into
your kernel. The main language I have seen for the Pi is Python, which I like a lot.
(another C++ library extension) I bought Wheezy for my Pi, and still can not figure out
how to load the RPIO module into it. (You must have RPIO to control your inputs/outputs.)
    I am so unhappy!

[JustANerd]

Hmmm, never messed with that OS. I'm still using raspbian. My main problem is with wheels is that the only 14" diameter I can find are either way too heavy, or too narrow to keep from sinking because of weight. This sucker is going to have some mass to it. Aslo, I'm not willing to spend over a  hundred bucks on cheap plastic. lol

[Avadon77]

Hmmm, never messed with that OS. I'm still using raspbian. My main problem is with wheels is that the only 14" diameter I can find are either way too heavy, or too narrow to keep from sinking because of weight. This sucker is going to have some mass to it. Aslo, I'm not willing to spend over a  hundred bucks on cheap plastic. lol

When it comes to making wheels I've never decided to do it because there's only a few billion wheels on the market for robots and industrial machines. The only time I've ever seen where people make "wheels" is where they make their own hub/sprocket combinations for tracked vehicles and even a lot of that can be done with off the shelf chain sprockets. So I really don't see the reason to make wheels.

look at all these wheels!
https://therobotsource.com/73-shop-for-wheels-tracks-omni-wheels-mecanum-wheels-for-building-robots#/

How fast is this robot going? Are we trying to do 35 mph or 3.5 mph?

You can get really large contact wheels 12" and higher from many suppliers if you're talking about precision, Aluminum billet wheels with duro70-80 rubber on them (think car tire hardness rubber). They're not cheap but they'll last forever

http://www.beaumontmetalworks.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=6

I got some of my wheels from my friends at Beaumont who I also get my sanding machinery equipment from.

I'm sure if you search you can find a 14" contact wheel.

Now if you're talking more of a pneumatic/offroad wheel than tractor supply as mentioned, Big R, MSC/Grainger has tons of wheels too.

[Avadon77]

Also look on Aliexpress for 14" wheels. I source a lot of good robotics stuff out of there.

[Avadon77]

Looking at the cover of your book that looks like they came off of a big wheel.. you know those electric cars they buy for the kids. You can find those at garage sales and goodwill stores from time to time. They make horrible tires for robots because slippage on hard plastic wheels means you can't use encoders on the wheels. You really need something with good rubber which is why i suggest the contact wheels. Failing that I'd go for some kind of penumatic wheel (something like a real tire.. maybe handtruck wheels, wheel barrow wheels, or garden cart wheels. You can find run flat rubber tires in the dimensions you're looking for 10-14" if I recall. Might be worth a look?