The chassis is the literal foundation of everything: if it's unstable, poorly sized, or fragile, no mechanism built on top of it will work well.
Purpose of the chassisLink to this section
The chassis needs to balance strength, weight, and stability. A chassis that's too heavy steals speed and payload capacity from the robot; a chassis that's too fragile can't handle the normal impacts of a match.
- Work with strength, weight, and stability.
- Learn about different construction methods.
DrivetrainLink to this section
The drivetrain is the system responsible for moving the robot around the field, and choosing the right type depends heavily on the team's strategy. Mecanum wheels, for example, allow sideways movement without turning the robot — a tactical advantage on tight fields, but at a cost in precision and energy efficiency.
- Learn about different drivetrain types.
- Understand how mecanum wheels work.
- Relate motors, wheels, and transmission.
PerformanceLink to this section
There's no "best" drivetrain in absolute terms — there's the one best suited to that season's strategy. The engineering work here is balancing speed, force, and stability, and thinking about reliability from the very start of the project: a drivetrain that fails mid-match costs more points than one that's slightly slower but reliable.
- Balance speed, force, and stability.
- Identify common drivetrain problems.
- Think about reliability from the design stage.