Using Both Vicotrs and Jaguars in Mecanum Drive

[wiiking123]

I was wondering, is it okay to use both Jaguars and Victors for your program for the drive train? I know if you enter the Mecanum VI, you can change each motor output to whatever speed controller you want. Since we are kind of low on speed controllers, it would help to know if we could use Victors and Jaguars at the same time for driving a robot.

[theprgramerdude]

It is possible, although I wouldn't recommend it, especially when both jaguars and victors are used together to drive the same wheel-set. With mecanums, it's a bit easier to get by, at the cost of some control level. The problem lies with the output of Victors and Jaguars - Jaguar output is more linear than Victors, and so for a commanded speed, the two might be giving voltages that are different from what you really want. If it's all jaguars or all victors, everything scales together, and there is no problem.

[Joe Ross]

Jaguars and Victors have different switching characteristics, and will produce different speeds for the same output value. It would be hard to control a mecanum drivetrain that did not use the same type of speed controller for all motors.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

Jaguars and Victors have different switching characteristics, and will produce different speeds for the same output value. It would be hard to control a mecanum drivetrain that did not use the same type of speed controller for all motors.

I suppose you could put encoders on the wheels and do closed-loop speed control of the wheels. Has anyone ever tried this with a mix of Jag & Vic controllers on the same drivetrain?