Breakaway question: getting on platform with meccanum?

[EricH]

To get onto the platform from the bump, assuming standard-sized mecanum wheels, you'd need to turn on top of the bump--there just isn't enough vertical clearance while going sideways to clear that lip. You could do it, but you'd need rather large mecanums.

For a wheeled vehicle, the approximate maximum size of vertical step it can go up is governed by the axle height. If you try to go up anything higher than the axle, you'll need either a really good coefficient of friction or an intermediate step of some form--an angle on your vehicle works as well. But a mecanum has at least 2 axle heights. One applies going forwards and backwards, one applies when going parallel to a roller--and then there's the one that comes into play when the end of a roller hits a wall. This one is the lowest one, and on your typical FRC mecanum isn't more than about half an inch off the floor. That's the maximum sideways vertical height it can climb without a ramp. Front-back, it's more like 3-4 inches, barely within range to get a robot onto the platform from the bump.

So, you couldn't strafe onto the platform; you'd have to go up like a 4WD--go up, spin, climb on. Now, with a bigger mecanum wheel, you might be able to do it.