[Jonathan Norris]

I know our team talked about it for a while as well. What we really liked about it was the combination of the maneuverability of a swerve and the power of traction wheels. We had it planed where the traction wheels would be geared slower for more torque to be able to push through defense, while the mecanum would give us speed and maneuverability.

The main advantages I saw over a pure swerve drive was reduced complexity of the overall system. However, the system would be pretty heavy, probably require two big pistons or four small ones, and to do right would need to have side supports to support the side loading while trying to turn with the traction wheels down.

I like the concept of the design, but as always it comes down to design and execution to make it worth the extra weight/effort.