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Unread 10-04-2014, 14:40
Jefferson Jefferson is offline
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AKA: Jeff Clements
FRC #0016 (Bomb Squad)
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Re: Swerve Drive vs Mecanum Wheel drive?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ether View Post
Horizontal pushing "transfers some of the weight" to the rear wheels, even if the front wheels do not leave the ground.
Right. If fox46 had worded it that way, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ether View Post
I believe the point being made was that with a chained drive, all motors on each side are still providing force... And that force will be distributed to the wheels with the greater traction (the rear wheels), once the wheels with the lesser traction (the front wheels) have reached their traction limit.
As soon as any of the wheels leave the ground, though, you've lost at least some of your ~150 lb weight, making it more likely that you are limited by the traction of your wheels, not the power you can deliver to them. And if your wheels are off the ground, you've likely lost the pushing match already.
I guess the larger point here is: the primary advantage of an omnidirectional drivebase is you can avoid pushing matches all together by beating the opponent to the position. At that point, if you don't want to move, you lock the wheels in a position so that the robot won't roll in any direction. If you do want to move, you move sideways away from the opponent, a move the tank drive can't make.
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