Mecanum vs. Swerve Drive

[jbsmithtx]

Prepare for the worst.

Nearly everyone on CD will tell you that mecanum wheels are completely awful, and have no pushing power.

That being said, there are several benefits to moving to swerve. It is much more efficient in power delivery, and so much more powerful. As a beginning team, mecanum is great for preliminaries. However, as a team that has used them for several years, it may be useful for you to transition into something else. Keep in mind, that swerve is always a work in progress. The best swerve drives are made over several seasons. But don't be afraid to continue with mecanum, if you determine your time should go elsewhere.

Pros to Swerve:
Several alternate control methods
Better power delivery (Speed and no slickness of rollers)

Cons to Swerve:
Not easy to slap onto a robot like mecanum
Requires the use of many motors
Can be unreliable, unless you spend a lot of time getting everything right
Can be expensive (but mecanum can be too)

Pros to Mecanum
Easy to implement
Reliable
Little development

Cons to Mecanum
Rollers
Costly
Can be unbalanced