pic: Omni Design Trial

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

What's the difference between a wheel rolling forward for the sake of going forward and a wheel rolling forward for the sake of strafing and how did you get your rollers to know the difference?

The only difference is that the rollers are rolling relative to the body of the wheel under the strafing condition, so there is "lost motion". In the straight ahead condition there is none, the drive system is quite efficient.

A wheel turning forward is going along the straightaway of the race track...a wheel strafing is going around a curve...usually we try to go as fast as we can on the straightaway, and we have to slow down for the curves. So, a mecanum drive is naturally suited to this game, while an omni drive is not, because it is wasting a lot of motor movement spinning the rollers on the wheels.

The rollers don't care at all. But you might care if you're trying to decide which drivetrain to use, and you are still considering both omni and mecanum holonomic drives.