[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Maybe that's because it's not as good - the VAST majority of the best teams in FIRST don't use mecanum, and it's not because they're stupid.



Is it? Honestly? I think 6wd maneuverability is quite underrated - there's a reason there's literally never been a mecanum on Einstein.



We've pushed plenty of mecanum bots no problem (and yes, the rollers spin)

No, I think there are plenty of teams who have never tried it - I know that 449 had never used mecanum until '07, and since then we've used it in both games which allowed it. There's a lot of stigma around mecanum based on this myth that it gets pushed all over the place - anyone who has had experience driving a mecanum bot will tell you that this is nowhere near as big an issue as you think it is.

No, the rollers do not spin unless your wheels are already skidding - the physics of this has been explained multiple times earlier in the thread. As has been mentioned earlier in the thread, the only power difference mecanum suffers is the fact that the wheels skid sooner than traction wheels. You will never start pushing a mecanum bot and see the rollers immediately start spinning - it's the same reason that acceleration of mecanum drive is identical to that of a traction drive.

Yes, it is unequivocally more maneuverable. You turn just as well, you accelerate just as well, and you have an extra axis of movement. If that's not unequivocally more maneuverable, then nothing is.