[AndyB]

I am a former member of 269, and yes, we have done "sworm" drive. Even though its really cool, and nice and quiet, I really can't recommend it over more traditional swerve concepts. (As traditional as swerve drives can be at least)

Efficiency is obviously a major factor, but another thing to take into account is how the whole thing fits together on the robot. With a worm reduction, it is impossible to center a motor ontop of the turning radius (unless your wheels are offset from the turning radius, like a caster, which is not recommended). Our sworm drive turns only 180 degrees, which also makes programming a little tricky. Again, I don't know if I'd recommend that method either.

If you could come up with a design that had 360 degree rotation, using worm gears, I don't know if it would be any more advantageous than just mounting the motor sideways ala 111 or 71.