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Originally Posted by JESTER357
Not all mecanum wheels can be pushed easily.
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Agreed. One feature about the AM Mecanum wheels is interesting: each roller can be adjusted to spin very little or very loosely.
Each roller is on it's own shaft, the shaft being a #10-32 screw. One end of the #10-32 screw is a nylock nut. If this nut is tightened completely, the roller does not move and the wheel acts like a grippy robot wheel (the rollers won't spin). If the nut is loosened, then the rollers will spin and the features of the wheel are utilized.
This tensioning could be adjusted between matches at a FIRST Competition. You could go from a fairly good pushing robot in one match (back wheels w/ rollers tight, front wheels with rollers mostly tight) to a strafing robot in the next match (rollers loose for full mobility). 1 student adjusting 12 nuts on 1 wheel would take about 3-4 minutes.
It should be interested to see how these wheels are used in the upcoming season.
Andy B.