Best Drivetrain options

[Vupa]

Originally Posted by gregrly

Slide/H-drive looks very promising. Without defense their is no worry about being pushed around. For a team with limited resources and expertise, this drive train provides the advantages of horizontal motion without the complexity of swerve or mecanum.

I don't believe Slide/ H-Drive will be as good as everyone thinks it is, many people are relying on the fact that the horizontal motion will be incredibly helpful. In reality I believe teams will use it as a way of adjusting their precision when needing to stack and line up for totes, which is completely valid until your vision is blocked or you don't have enough room to strafe. It would be better to build tolerance into your loading mechanisms rather than into your drivetrain where the tote being in the proper orientation is everything. Some teams will attempt to do both (Slide and Any-Orientation intake), we will just have to wait and see in practice which proves to be more effective.

[orangemoore]

Originally Posted by Vupa

I don't believe Slide/ H-Drive will be as good as everyone thinks it is, many people are relying on the fact that the horizontal motion will be incredibly helpful. In reality I believe teams will use it as a way of adjusting their precision when needing to stack and line up for totes, which is completely valid until your vision is blocked or you don't have enough room to strafe. It would be better to build tolerance into your loading mechanisms rather than into your drivetrain where the tote being in the proper orientation is everything. Some teams will attempt to do both (Slide and Any-Orientation intake), we will just have to wait and see in practice which proves to be more effective.

As a team we have done mecanum drives for the past 2 years in FTC but we do not see the value in a mecanum drive or a similar option. To be able to fully utilize a drive train like that you must have a lot of time practicing with it. We are not known for finishing robots quickly so we decided to go with a simple 6WD drive train that we get a lot of practice time on rather than spending a bunch of time on building a completely new drive train.

[pfreivald]

Originally Posted by orangemoore

As a team we have done mecanum drives for the past 2 years in FTC but we do not see the value in a mecanum drive or a similar option. To be able to fully utilize a drive train like that you must have a lot of time practicing with it. We are not known for finishing robots quickly so we decided to go with a simple 6WD drive train that we get a lot of practice time on rather than spending a bunch of time on building a completely new drive train.

A. Mecanum robots drive exactly like a first-person shooter. In my experience drivers need maybe ten minutes to acclimate to it.

B. Good call--finishing early and getting good practice time is more important than an "ideal" drive train (whatever that is.)