pic: Side view of third try drive.

[NickE]

Originally Posted by Mr_I

Okay, I'm confused about something (trust me, this isn't an unusual condition): The advantage of mecanum is that you can make the bot go sideways by rotating front and back wheels in different directions. If you chain them together by tying them to the middle wheel, aren't you defeating this potential?

I believe they're implementing this design for these reasons:

Originally Posted by rocketperson44

For the most part, it acts as a standard mecanum drive, but the central wheels in combination with a suspension system provide additional forward traction and climbing ability.