Mecanum Drive - Help

[EricH]

Mecanums aren't necessarily the worst at inclines, they just need a lot of grip.

A little story from personal experience: In one competition, there were two teams. Both had a similar age AND similar robots. One had a mecanum, one did not. The one with a mecanum tended to go out, orient, and slide into scoring position--a time-consuming process. The team without charged into position and turned if necessary. These two teams faced off in a qualification match. The mecanum team lost. The other team went on to win the whole event.

The problem was not necessarily the drivetrain, but its use. Had the team using the mecanum drive treated it like a four-wheel system and only used the sideways motion for small corrections, they could certainly have been up at the top. By using the (much slower) sideways motion for distance movement, they effectively lowered their scoring potential.

It's not the drivetrain that's the potential issue--it's how you use it. I don't care if you have a two-wheel caster robot, a six-wheel dropped center, a mecanum, or any other type of drive; all have their weaknesses. All have their strengths. You need to use the drive to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses. And what type of drive you use should be a function of what the game calls for. Choose a drive to fit the game strategy you employ--then use the off-season to investigate other drive systems.