Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikkocharger
Ok I get it now teams use tank (skid) steering because it is easy to build and very simple to work on plus you can power more wheels.
Thank-you all very much
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Well to be fair, I think the consensus in this thread (and in FRC in general) is that the main benefit of Tank/Skid/Differential vs. Ackermann is that it is much better for maneuverability over short distances and/or slow speeds. The common story I give to my students is this:
How many turns/maneuvers does it take to move a car into a parallel parking space? How long does this take?
If you have a robot that needs to pick up a ball that is 3 feet to your right, and you have Ackermann steering, how long would it take to get there? If you had tank/skid/differential steering, how long then?
Ackermann is much better when you have high speeds and/or turns that do not require any form of strafing translation, i.e. like a race track. The OverDrive Game was designed to mimick a race track, hence several teams going after the Ackermann design and some were very successful. However (in my personal opinion) in most games in the past most teams with Ackerman steering would be at a huge disadvantage compared to a simple skid steering robot, with just looking at maneuverability by itself and not considering complexity/cost/use of motors/resources, etc.