Quote:
Originally Posted by Monochron
My gut reaction is that this is a bad assessment of the effects. I would love for you to correct me though  Do you have any links to data or videos to back that up? Basically, I have a feeling that a change in drive characteristics mid-match would be something that is very hard to deal with regardless of driver skill. |
As for data, only that year of mecanum on 3288, it was logomotion and had implemented it with a large arm with a claw on the end (again, probably not a good design on our part) the robot drove drastically differently depending on the orientation of the arm, and if my physics studys tell me anything here, it is that the changimg effect will be greater the more weight is moved around.
This is why I stated that is theoretically possible although likely difficult (physical objects tend to have more factors than we like to account for in math)
And yes, a robot that behaves differently whether due to a change in weight or a mistake in programming is difficult to control.
Regarding the afore mentioned white paper, every mecanum robot I have ever seen drifted/coasted a little further than similar tank drive bots - likely due to inconsistencies in wheel construction.
Again, these can be compensated for by a practiced driver, but the drive base needs to get built soon to allow for that.