pic: 2015, Year of swerves?

[AdamHeard]

Have your fielded a swerve drive during season?

Originally Posted by asid61

Well, I look at it this way:
When somebody says, "Swerve is never necessary" it's basically just stating a universal truth. That quote just kind of irks me because of that. Yes, swerve is never necessary. Neither is driving. But, driving, and swerve drives, are advantageous. And it's that distinction that the quote totally misses.

What I mean is that swerve, when practiced with in the offseason and with a good driver, is almost always a benefit IMO. You're getting all the capabilities of a tank, it can be configured to drive like a tank, and if you want to you can switch over to swerve anytime. Now, if you just try to make a swerve when the season begins, I can see how a team might flop. But provided you actually prototype in the offseason, it's a lot less likely to fail.
Open-source the designs and code, manufacture early in the season, and you're good. A well-designed swerve drive is lightweight and compact nowadays, to the point where it can compete with a WCD. For some teams it's not easy to manufacture it at all, and for them swerve is in fact disadvantageous. But if you can get it made fast and you have working code pre-season, I don't see the inherent disadvantages of a swerve drive.

"The best drivetrain" can mean a lot of things depending on the game. But provided the programming and design work are done pre-season, swerve is not inherently disadvantageous.