Quote:
Originally Posted by mayde
I think the reason that so many teams found the mecanum drive so alluring is that it has superior maneuverability.
I know that is why we chose it; but instead of buying wheels, we made our own.
Actually, i would like to hear from any other teams that made their own wheels, out of curiosity.
Ours are finished at this point, it is just a matter of assembaly.
if you want to see a finished one, find the thread "wheel envy".
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I agree that mecanum drive is very maneuverable, but the word choice of superior is one that I would like to question. Despite the ability to instantly move laterally, I would argue that a well made and well operated 6 or 8 wheel skid can't be out-maneuvered by the best of mecanum drives. Last year was a little different because of the surface and the trailer, but if you take a look at some skid steers from 2008: 233, 1114 and 968 come to mind, these team's maneuverability was mind blowing, and they didn't have the losses in efficiency that mecanum wheels present. They also weren't as susceptible to being pushed laterally as a mechanum drive is..
I'm not questioning your decision, I'm just suggesting that mecanum drives maneuverability in reality is not quite what it seems on the drawing board.