Here's The issue in a diagram form... It's self explanatory as well as a solution (roughly what the RFL player bots do.)
Proposed JunkBox Solution... I have the parts to build it this way...
This is it in a nutshell... The base unit for our RFL Football Knock off Bot!
Stacking everything is quite, nice, the weight wants to be transferred over the motor itself. That gives amazing traction to the unit... Waiting on the new wheels I ordered...
Experiment with upright configuration, number two... The first unit was frighteningly unbalanced. Note the bent "catcher" that holds the unit upright in reverse.
Upright experimental chassis based pretty much on the RFL Robots as sold by Sparkfun...
Oops! We lost a wheel! The simple wheels I stuck on, one of them actually unbolted itself...
This is how I mounted the 9-volt battery packs directly to the motor... It fell down reliably, every time it tried to actually move. (Except for reverse, it did great in reverse.)
The Batteries Set on flanges on the Twin Motor Gearbox Like So...
I took a piece of plastic sheet (really an old cassette tape box chopped up - not too - neatly.)
Now our junkbox RFL Football Bot has Shoulder Pads! This is a nice way to make sure the weight of the batteries is distributed directly downward - Onto Thus Drive Wheels... Oh yes, this configuration has some power!
Phase I. Motor Drive Base: Finished... By judicious use of the battery clips and a couple more arms wrapped around the pc board and we have a bot base!!!
