Swerve: Belts or Chain?

[nuclearnerd]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Pairs of wheels linked, all steering linked - robot can translate in any direction. Robot may be able to rotate the same way a skid steer robot does, depending on which wheels are linked and if turning scrub can be overcome.[

I can see a lot of advantages of this configuration. It would be easier to build and program, it would give a robot the ability to strafe without sacrificing traction, and it would be no worse at pivoting than a standard tank drive (though not as good as a 4-wheel-independant swerve). Do you know of any team that has tried it?

One catch - as the wheels turn 90 degrees to strafe, the wheel pairing pattern would need to change to allow differential steering. You might still need 4 independent drive motors (need to think about this a bit). Even so, it would be simpler to implement the steering.