Thread: Mecanum Wheel Traction
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Unread 19-01-2011, 23:07
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Re: Mecanum Wheel Traction
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nathan Streeter View Post
Most mecanum wheels provide excellent traction; those rollers appear quite grippy... although I haven't used them...

The reason why mecanum drives can't push hard is not because the wheels have poor traction, but because each wheel pushes diagonally... in order for the robot to go in a straight line the directly opposing forces cancel, leaving a single resultant vector.

Essentially, finding grippier rollers won't significantly improve your pushing power or acceleration, that is a problem inherent to mecanum drives. Some people have improved their pushing through different means... I can see how tightening the rollers so they won't spin as easily would improve pushing force some. 190 (WPI) came up with a cool innovation that essentially used mechanisms like break calipers to lock the rollers to provide the pushing force of a standard drive.

Not sure if this is truly helpful or not, just trying to clear up what may or may not have been a misconception! :-)
I do understand the basic physics behind the mecanum wheel drive system. I just assumed the OP was referring to pushing power/resistance as "traction." I was trying to explain that the rollers prevent the wheels from having a lot of pushing power. Thanks for the clarification, though! It's always good to pass some physics knowledge!
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