[DampRobot]

I guess it's my turn to be "that guy"...

I'd like to humbly propose that in 90% of cases, omnidirectional drives are unnecessary or even detrimental to the overall robot. Teams like 1640, 148, and 1717 notwithstanding, I often believe that a team would be much smarter to build a more complex manipulator and go with some sort of simple, tested tank drive (even the kit bot on steroids) than build a complex drivetrain and run out of time for a good manipulator.

Yes, swerve and mecanum drives are more maneuverable, and this can have advantages (as attested to on this thread). But that maneuverability requires a fair amount of driver practice to fully utilize. Be honest, how much of the time did the average mecanum robot spend strafing? Any?

Even if you are able to drive this type of drivetrain to its full potential, it takes a lot of time to build and program. The average swerve drive probably has three or more times the number of discrete non-COTS parts as a tank drive, so it would take a lot more time to make. It's not impossible, it's just a large investment of time, time which could be used making a better manipulator. Also, it takes a lot more time to program than you might suspect. Don't take my word for it, ask Adam from 973 or Ether (or just search for their posts about it). This goes for mecanum too, to a lesser degree.

I won't go into the reasons why a swerve or mecanum drive might be better or worse in terms of defense. Other people are better qualified to argue that than me.

Hopefully I haven't discouraged you. No matter what summer project you chose, if you can actually follow through and make it happen, it will be an awesome experience for you and your team. And, if you want to build an omnidirectional drivetrain in the offseason, go for it. The offseason's the right time for this sort of thing, and even if all you've learned that you're never building/programming/driving an omnidirectional drivetrain again, you should call it a success.