Encoder with CAN for Drive Train

[Ether]

Originally Posted by bradleybaldwin

Hello,
During the offseason our team is trying to use mechanum wheels so we can move side to side. When we first put the wheels on the robot it moved diagonally instead of side to side. We attempted to fix this by switching from PWM to CAN and by adding encoders to each wheel. We then attempted to tune each pid controller with minimal success. Is this the best way to go about solving this problem and if it is then what is the optimal way to tune the PID controllers.

1) Can you post a picture of how you have the mecanum wheels mounted so we can look at it? This is among the most common mistakes made by teams using mecanums for the first time.

2) Are you using LabVIEW's built-in mecanum robot-drive VI, or did you use a home-brew mecanum algorithm?

3) Put the robot up on blocks and give it a sideways command. Carefully observe each wheel and note which direction it is spinning, and post your results here.