Well you have many numerous white paper at your disposal but I will give you a crash course in simple drive systems.
Direct vs. Chain/Belt
- Direct requires more room to incorporate 4 single geared gearboxes
- Direct only has a single speed controlled gear box (Unless you want to mount 4 shifting transmissions
)
- Chain/Belt reduces space but tensioners and design quality will affect breakdowns
- Chains/Belts do allow you to have multiple non-driven wheels which worked great for this year
- If you were to go with Belts/Chain, Cyber Blue (234) has a white paper that revealed after testing that belts are more tedious to work with but they work better with a drive train
In my honest opinion, go with what the game play will be like. If there will be pushing and shoving, a Chain/Belt drive with 6 or 8 wheels will be optimal. If the game requires fast paced movement and little torque, then a direct driven omni-directional or mecanum wheel system is what you are going for.
Check out this top to see the multiple systems that are available.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=87786
Like I said, wait until you know your strategy before deciding on one.
Anyone else want to add? I know there is so much more that can be incorporated.