I'm taking part in a university project where we are building a robot weighing about 500 pounds. This robot will be running in the snow and have tracks on both its sides (tank style). The robot will run on solar power and will only reach a maximum speed of 5 mph.
We are looking into running snowmobile tracks on this robot but most of them seem to resist flexing and offer too much rolling resistance. What we are looking for is the track that will take the least energy to go around our track system. From what I've read it seems that I want a very soft durometer track, but I've little experience with snowmobiles. What would be the most efficient (least rolling resistance) track to run on this robot?
Note1: The longer the track is the easier it will be for us to incorporate it into the design.
Note2: I've experience working with cars and access to a good machine shop.
We are looking into running snowmobile tracks on this robot but most of them seem to resist flexing and offer too much rolling resistance. What we are looking for is the track that will take the least energy to go around our track system. From what I've read it seems that I want a very soft durometer track, but I've little experience with snowmobiles. What would be the most efficient (least rolling resistance) track to run on this robot?
Note1: The longer the track is the easier it will be for us to incorporate it into the design.
Note2: I've experience working with cars and access to a good machine shop.