Softer wheels for PiCar-X?

Robotic kit for Raspberry Pi
1

Is there an alternative for PiCar-X’s wheels that have softer “rubber” that would give it more traction?

I’m particularly interested in the rear (motor driven) wheels.

2

Sorry, but our picar-x wheels are custom made, and it is difficult to find a replacement on the market.
Front wheel: 10-spoke hexagonal hole, outer diameter 66 black and white tire
Rear wheel: 5-spoke square hole, outer diameter 66 black and white tire
Motor: 1:48TT motor dual-axis (with 2.54 terminal wire, wire length 20cm)

3

Thank you.

Isn’t the “TT” in the motor type actually the axle/shaft shape, 5.3 x 3.6 mm?
There seems to be plenty of such wheels out there, including ones with “high friction rubber”.
Like these:

Would one of these fit?

4

Correct. You may try replacing it to see if it works

5

Hi,

If you \find something that works, please post. The wheels do not work that well. Love to find something else.

Guy

6

I have ordered the black ones, will see when they arrive.

Can you elaborate what you mean by “not work that well”, please?
Are they hard to mount, do not fit, have no grip, too big, too small, … ?

Edit: Oh, are you referring to original wheels?

7

Yes, the original wheels slide more than they turn even on my hard surface follows. So , like you I want an alternative to what came with the Picar-X.

Guy

8

OK, wheels I ordered might arrive even before the weekend. I’ll report back when they do.

9

The wheels arrived today.
They look exactly as in the picture I posted here earlier (the black ones).

They are indeed made of real rubber. The rubber is not very soft though, but it does provide much more traction than the original tires (which are rather “plasticky”).
The tires are “filled” with soft white foam, apparently glued to the tire (not the wheel rim) so the tire can be easily taken off the wheel.

The tires are perfect match for the original wheel and fit on the rim perfectly.
This is particularly important as:

  1. the original wheels are very hard to remove off the motor shafts (original wheels fit very tightly over the motor axle/shaft which really is 3.6 mm wide)
  2. the new wheel’s center “bore” is actually 3.4 mm wide instead of 3.6 mm what would make it very hard to fit on the motor axle/shaft and even harder to remove

In other words, I’ve kept the original white wheels and have put the new tires on them.
I’ll deal with taking off the wheels when I get to replacing the motors. :laughing: