Quote:
Originally Posted by Eagle_Strike123
Hello, I am I student from team 27, team RUSH, doing research on swerve drive for a presentation. Any teams that currently use swerve drive on their robots, or have in the past, if you could explain the advantages and disadvantages of using swerve drive to me, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, I would like to know of any situations where using swerve drive was particularly effective. Thanks!
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from my perspective (3 competition swerves (one with too many wheels), and a bunch of prototypes)
advantages:
- Elusive to defenders (the biggest pro IMO)
Many defensive robots aim to lock up opponents with a side tbone, or simply playing moving wall, its much harder for them to accomplish both of these if you have a well driven swerve and are unpredictable.
- great in tight quarters (in theory)
- grace and fluidity are possible (though rarely accomplished IMO, watch any 16 matches for an example)
- great creative outlet for a bored designer
Disadvantages:
- control: Getting that direct mental connection from operators mind to robot movements is quite difficult, and takes alot of development and practice time
- labor intensive in most cases (COTS ones available)
- expensive
- typically take up much of the base (I've found ways around this)
- require many motors (I don't think i'll ever do a non fully independant one again meaning at least 8 motors on drive)
- Number of moving parts/failure points is fairly high
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Johnson
On the one hand, I hate bevel gears (in FIRST applications especially). They can be done well (Note to self: talk to John V about his championship robot and inspect that dang bevel gear set up).
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You mean the ones that lost a few teeth each regional?