A Simple Improvement to Driving

[generalbrando]

It's true that you're going to have half the turning speed and that you'd end up arching when pushing one stick.

That code mentioned above is correct I believe - my version is a bit more cluttered but hopefully either gets the idea across.

Anyway, in defense of the argument that it'll turn too slow, you're going to have to agree that we can't generalize. Slower turning on 246's 2004 bot is better because of the balance of the weight to the non-drive side means that it has a heavy tail - it's tough to control at times. And yet, it still allows for quick enough maneuvering in this case. Different robots will benefit from different programming.

This isn't something for every 'bot, but if a team wanted this effect but didn't want to lose their turning speed, you could include another piece of code downstream of this. It would check to see (for example) if the sticks were each pushed in opposite directions past the 3/4 (or half...you'd have to tweak it probably) point. For those familiar with code, you'd check if one stick was under 64 while the other was above 192 or vise versa. If it is, then you'd tell it to send the values of the ports directly to the pwm outs (as usual).

But yes, it's valid to say that it would be a bad idea for some skilled drivers who are used to that absolute non-interpretive control, not to mention the turning being potentially a problem.