[Ed Law]

Originally Posted by Ether

Mecanum is not hard to program. It is very straightforward. The same is true of field-oriented drive.

If your robot had superior control, I suspect the reasons are probably:

1) superior craftsmanship and attention to detail of the mechanical design (wheel and frame alignment, leveling, weight distribution, minimal and consistent drivetrain friction, carefully assembled and adjusted mecanum wheels)

2) attention to detail of the electrical design (proper wiring to motors and gyro, selection of gyro with minimal drift, etc)

3) well-designed driver interface (match the driver interface to the driver)

4) skilled drivers with lots of practice

Ether,

We tried Mecanum wheels and tried field oriented drive. It was a good exercise for our programmer who did it all on his own. It would work for 10 to 15 seconds and then the headings will be off. I think it is because of gyro drift. We use the gyro that comes in the KOP. Is there a better one that we should use? We tried a compass sensor but there is too much electro magnetic interference from the motors. Any help would be appreciated.