[magnets]

If you are looking to get a more competitive drivetrain over the summer, I would recommend improving a six/eight wheel drive. If you are looking to have fun building a cool looking robot, you could try swerve/mecanum. In the past 4 years, there have been almost no good robots with swerve drive.

To develop a good swerve you need multiple seasons/off seasons of development, people who are skilled with CAD software, lots of money, and lots of CNC and machining equipment. Look at team 148, one of the most competitive teams. They have only done swerve once, and that was in 08, when their robot didn't have any other manipulator/features, it literally just drove in circles! After 08, they stated that swerve is almost never beneficial to have.

As for meccanum, I personally have a strong dislike for these horrible wheels. Many good teams automatically cross off teams with meccanum wheels from their pick list, just because they know they will be inferior to a 6wd.

If you are interested in making your 6wd more competitive, figure out how to make it lighter, cheaper, simpler, and more reliable. Make it a two speed (if you haven't already) and play around with different gear ratios to see which works best. You could also try to implement a more advanced method of control such as a gyro that helps your robot drive in a perfectly straight line, or something like team 254's cheesy drive. There is currently no team in FRC with a perfect 6wd, although the cheesy poofs are getting pretty close.