pic: Jumpin' on the Swerve Train

[Chris Hapstack]

Originally Posted by Andrew_L

Don't get me wrong - this looks super cool, but unless your team is extremely prepared for it and has done it in the offseason, "jumpin' on the swerve train" is probably the best way to shoot yourself in the foot during build season. And this is coming from one of the world's biggest proponents of the swerve train.

Onto the more design specific stuff:

-How much does the drivetrain weigh?
-How much does a single module weigh?
-How complex is it to machine?
-What made you choose this specific form factor?

I should clarify that the swerve train I'm referring to is more of the off-season, design-exercise type. Seems like it was the most popular thing to do this off-season. I'm more of a 6WD drop center guy myself, but figured it would be fun to try my hand at some swerve design while I still had free time. I have no idea if we'll be doing swerve this season, but figured I would post this anyway.

As for the tech specs, the entire base shown here is 43.5 pounds and a swerve module is 8.4 pounds. Definitely on the heavy side, but I was shooting for robustness. The frame would all be waterjet-cut, and the swerve modules themselves have 3 team-manufactured parts: a 3D-printed encoder mount, a (set of 4) standoffs done on a lathe, and a tube that requires 2 mill setups. By form factor do you mean "length vs width" of the base?

Do you think adding frame-mounted bearings to the tops of the Revolution Pro 2 vertical drive shafts would add stability in a helpful way, or just over-constrain things?