[Ether]

Originally Posted by Ether

if you want to take full advantage of the mecanum's capabilities (i.e. include the strafing capability in the maneuver), then all you have to do is implement standard field-oriented control of the mecanum, and superimpose on top of that a rotation command to bring the bot into alignment with the joystick angle.

The above is not hard to do.

LabVIEW, C++, and Java all have a "gyro" input for mecanum cartesian to give you field-centric control.

Plug the gyro into that, and plug the X and Y from your joystick into the X and Y inputs. Now you've got field-centric "Halo" control of the mec bot.

Now take the shortest-angle difference¹ between the gyro reading (process variable) and the joystick angle (setpoint) and use that difference as the error input to a closed-loop controller of your choice. Feed the output from that closed-loop controller into the "rotation" input of the mec cartesian VI (or method). Now your bot will simultaneously move in the commanded direction and turn to face the commanded direction.



¹make sure the joystick angle and the gyro reading have the same zero and polarity. Ask if you need help.