Direct Drive Four Motor System

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Matt Adams

My thoughts are merely, "Can't a good driver with some practice on the robot before it is shipped 'aim' an open loop drive system 'straight enough'?" The advantage of a closed loop system is pretty nice if you have two pairs of motors controlling two wheels on each side - you can essentially ensure that when you push both joysticks full forward, that the robot will move straight and not veer off by say up to 10 degrees or so as it might in an open loop system. Driving is more intuitive, this is a very good thing.

You're missing something relatively important in your thinking here. Yes, a good driver can effectively be the element that closes the loop, but only when there is a driver at the controls. However, a reliable autonomous routine pretty much requires closed loop software control of motor speed.