Archive: https://archive.today/GS7hv From the post: >>Wouldn’t it be nice to 3D print an entire custom tire for small robots? It sure would, so [Angus] of [Maker’s Muse] decided to investigate whether nifty new filaments like expanding TPU offer anything new in this area. He did more than just print out a variety of smooth tires; he tested each with a motorized platform attached to a load cell, driving on a dusty sheet of MDF to simulate the average shop floor, or ant weight combat robot arena. Why bother making your own wheels? As [Angus] points out, when one is designing their own robots from scratch, it’s actually quite difficult to find something off the shelf that is just the right size. And even if one does find a wheel that is just right, there’s still the matter of fitting it to the shaft. Things would be so much easier if one could simply 3D print both wheel and tire in a material that performs well.