[Madison]

Originally Posted by joeweber

I will try to explain. View the picture at http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/31755 The base of the robot which will include any arm device and all other components will have the rest of the robot weight, will have two rods extending out of each side of the robot. One set of drives will slide over these two rods and be pined in place to allow for the pivot motion. One of the rods will slide into a hole of one drive and the other rod will slide into a slot (to allow for the small amount of back and fourth movement). If you lift one of the mecanum wheels that portion of the drive will pivot pushing down on the omni wheels (lifting the robot) and then the other portion of the drive will pivot and slide on the other rod (that is attached to the main part of the robot) and lift the other mecanum wheel. This action should be independent of the drives on the other side. This is very similar to the pathfinder robot on mars but not as elaborate. The amount of travel will only be the amount needed for the largest ramp. Movement can be controlled by a pneumatic connected at each omni and to the frame.

When a pair of mecanum wheels drive toward one another, won't they first force the rod toward the other end of the slot, forcing one or both ends into the air and losing traction?

I'm trying to wrap my head around this. I still do not understand how a solid rod -- or a base that effectively acts as a solid rod -- can allow for, say, the front left wheel to go up a ramp while the front right remains level. The slotted end can handle this condition, but the fixed end cannot, as far as I can tell -- at least without expecting that the omniwheel can shift both upward and downward. In that case, I don't understand how you reasonably expect to know which direction the omniwheel will tend to shift.