Mecanum Drive Train

[EricH]

First, don't commit to a drivetrain until after kickoff. It's the worst thing you can do. Prototyping is fine, but planning before Kickoff is asking for the GDC to outlaw that design, or designing a game (or kit) so that it won't be the best.

Now, setup: 4 motors, 4 gearboxes, 4 mecanum wheels, and a fairly standard 6WD/4WD frame. Rig one motor to each gearbox, and arrange the wheels in the frame so that the tops look like either an X or an O. (Both will work, but the X pattern on the top resists spinning better than the O.) Connect the gearboxes and turn it over to the programmers so they can figure out the coding.

[joshsmithers]

If you're going to build a new (as in new to yourself) drive system, you must first know how it works. A good whitepaper that discusses the kinematics of a mecanum can be found here: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/1836.

Read it, learn it, know it. It will will help in your planning. Also, do a quick CD Media search for pictures of mecanums to get your brainstorming going.

Oh, not to mention the break-through 6wd-mecanum suspension, but here's a good example. And then there's 488's prototype mecanum.

[ironbears]

we build our own omniwheel drive system from scratch including wheels but i believe you can order mecannum wheels off of FIRST.

[AndyB]

Originally Posted by ironbears

we build our own omniwheel drive system from scratch including wheels but i believe you can order mecannum wheels off of FIRST.

Actually, its Andymark that sells them.

http://andymark.biz/mecanumwheels.html