[meaubry]

Once upon a time, a long long time ago Team 47 introduced an alternative drive system to the FIRST community. I remember the first couple of years and the expressions on peoples faces ... priceless! We have successfully implemented this style of steering/drive system 6 of the 8 years we have been around. The 2 years we didn't have it were, the 1st year and this year.
We have created 6 different systems - depending on how many motors Dr. Joe could strongarm out of my tightly held grip. We have had 4 wheel drive independent 4 wheel steer, 4 wheel drive chain driven closed loop steering, 2 wheel drive closed loop steering, any way...you get the idea.
Since then it has been very fun watching where and how often this type of drive / steering has been tried (some very successfully, aka; wildstang)
I'll request Dr. Joe create a history of swerve and a description of the systems we have used - and post it as a white paper. One other word of caution, This style of drive / steering system can get very tricky, it can require a bit of precision machining and a bit of programming to match up the mechanism with the electronics. The reason we didn't have it this year, is because we didn't think we could have it and still stay within the $3500 K3 Rule limit - and we knew we would be a bit short on the resources required (people, machinery and equipment) needed to do it justice. All in all - I think our drive system did just fine.