Drive train questions

[Bjenks548]

Originally Posted by Ether

That is how they work. And it's why you need 4 to strafe. You need the back wheels to cancel out the fore-aft force vector components.


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This is why I'm confused. Let's say that you do have the design I mentioned, if you drive both forward you drive forward because the right wheel is pulling forward and left, and the left wheel is pulling forward and right. Therefor left and right cancel out (assuming same speed). Same can be said for driving both backwards. Now if you drive the right wheel forward it pulls forward and left, and the left wheel backwards, backwards and left. Shouldn't you go left? And running the right one back and the left one forward shouldn't you go right?

As I see it the only reason i would need 4 mecanum wheels is to turn, not to strafe.

Someone explain to me how I'm wrong considering no one else sees this happening.