[LeelandS]

Okay. I can lend you a few tips. 1126 did Swerve this past year, and I was kinda attached to them for the time being. So I'll tell you a few things I liked, and what I would've done differently.

First of all, designing your Swerve drive. 1126 bought a Revolution Swerve Module from AndyMark, dissected it, and created a CAD file from it. Then they set to work designing the full drive system.

If you DO want to go with Swerve, there are a few decisions you have to make. Namely, motor allocation. You could go with each module steered by its own motor, or you could chain a few together (2 and 2). That's how 1126 did their prototype chassis. That turned into 2 and 1 and 1 for Championships (2 chained together, 2 are independently driven). Now they are working to make it totally independent. I'm not exactly sure what the advantage is to making it all independent, but I'd imagine the modules would rotate faster and easier. It's also heavier and a little more complicated. So keep that in mind.

Now, we'll fast forward a bit to when the prototype chassis is built. Hand it off to Software ASAP! As said above, the biggest hurdle of Swerve is the programming. There's a lot of things that need to be handled by Software. Not just driving the wheels like normal, but rotating the wheels and KEEPING THEM IN LINE. When steering your Swerve modules, they need to be kept in the same direction to a rather low tolerance if you want to drive effectively. Rotating the wheels itself can be a hurdle. There is just so much Software has to do with a Swerve drive. They need to be given as much time to work on it as possible.

Now, when Kick Off comes along. I would not recommend putting Swerve on the field for the season yet. That's your choice, but 1126's Swerve was no where near the level it should have been to compete. And it really hurt them when they got to competition. Now they know, and have been improving it for the coming year (if it offers advantages for the game). I would recommend giving Swerve another season to improve (AT LEAST). There's no point to using Swerve instead of Tank if it's barely mobile at all.

Just remember when undertaking Swerve; it requires time, resource and practice. And even with all those things, it may not work as well as you'd like. In which case, you need to invest more time and resource in it until it does work like you want. Don't expect to be at the level of 1717 or 16 when you're done with the prototype. It takes years to get Swerve to that level. Just remember; don't get discouraged. If you're truly motivated to do a Swerve drive, don't give up on it. Just keep working at it until you get it!

I hope this helps. Let me know if there's any advice you need, and I'll help as much as I can!
-Leeland