Triangle Tracked Tank Take Two

If there is one thing we know about roboticist James Bruton, it is that he loves experimenting with unusual movement mechanisms. A while back, he tried to build a robot that combined elements of tank tanks and omniwheels. The goal being to harness both the terrain-clearing benefits of a tank and the maneuverability that omniwheels provide. But that Triangle Tank failed on the first count, which defeated the purpose. To salvage the concept, James Bruton decided to rework the design in his latest video and the Triangle Tank v2 is the result.

This robot, like its predecessor, has an unusual design. It has three tank tracks positioned at 60 degree angles relative to each other, resulting in a triangular arrangement. They're standard tank tracks with one big exception: Bruton lined them with roller wheels. The axis of the rollers is in line with the direction of the track's travel, which gives the track free lateral movement and powered forward/backward movement. Any angle between those two extremes gets a little of both and Bruton can control the ratio by adjusting how much power goes to each of the three tracks. In that manner, he can move the robot in any direction.

The problem with Version 1 was that it couldn't clear obstacles, because the tracks couldn't get grip and because the position of the rollers kept them from working when the robot tilted. To solve those problems, Bruton tweaked the design. First, he gave the tracks a trapezoidal shape like you would see on a real tank. That puts the tracks at an angle near the front and back, so they can get traction on obstacles. Second, the tracks also pivot relative the central body, so they can make better contact with offset surfaces. Finally, Bruton moved the rollers to the outside of the tracks to ensure that they would still work, even when the robot is tipped to a significant angle.

Like before, an Arduino Mega 2560 development board controls the track motors through driver modules. But now it receives commands through an OrangeRX DSM radio receiver, which works with Bruton's open source DSM radio transmitter. Power comes from a LiPo battery pack.

These design changes proved to be a success, as the new Triangle Tank is able to traverse obstacles like a tank should. At the same time, it can rotate in place and drive in any direction. That makes the concept a success.