Our team just bought some Mecanum wheels and I was wondering if there is a whitepaper available. So many questions, so little time…
One of our main questions is mounting options. Is it better to mount these with chains and gear boxes or direct drive?
Any links to pictures showing this would be helpful and appreciated.
Thanks and good luck with your competition this year!
The handy search function should be able to help you out immensely here. I’ve seen a couple white papers available about mecanums and most of your mounting questions can be answered right on the product page on AM’s website.
With Axle and Hub: If driven by a shaft, these parts are needed for each wheel
- A hub fitting the size of the drive shaft. For 1/2" dia. shafts, use a 500 Key Hub (am-0077)](http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-0077.htm) for each wheel.
- #10-32 x 5/8" long screws (6), and #10-32 nylock nuts (6) fasten the hub to the wheel.
- 1/8 x 1/8 x 3/4 steel machine key (am-1043)](http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-1043.htm), one per wheel
With Sprocket: If driven by a sprocket, these parts are needed for each wheel
- Flanged ball bearings with 1.125" od: either 3/8" inside diameter (am-0573)](3/8 (0.375) in. Round ID Shielded Flanged Bearing - AndyMark, Inc), or 1/2" i.d. (am-0030)](1/2 in. Round ID Flanged Shielded Bearing (FR8ZZ) - AndyMark, Inc)
- Two 550 sprocket spacers (am-0651)](550 Sprocket Spacer - AndyMark, Inc) are used to space the sprocket away from the wheel, for chain clerance.
- A sprocket (type A) with a bolt hole circle of 1.875" diameter mounts to the wheels’ interior bolt pattern.
- #10-32 x 1.75" long screws (6), and #10-32 nylock nuts (6) fasten the sprocket and spacers to the wheel.
As for chain or direct drive- it really depends if you need further reduction in speed than what your gearbox outputs at. What gearboxes are you using, and which wheels did you purchase?
We have used Banebots P80 9:1 direct drive, supported on both ends, for several years without a glitch. Very reliable, maneuverable, and fast… but not very pushy!
Last year and this year we are using one gear reduction, plus a belt drive for a second reduction.
Direct drive toughbox nanos and 8" AM mecanums mix well… My only suggestion is to add a control in the drive code to reduce the speed range, as this configuration runs on the fast side.
Take that a step further - direct drive nanotube + mecanum wheels = 30 minute drivebase.
nanotube would work, but it’s cheaper and stronger to build your own chassis.
we use direct drive 8" off of toughbox nanos, we HATE having to constantly adjust the tension. it’s also lighter, and the gearboxes are also part of our chassis.
we recently installed a set of new rollers, and found that the rollers contact each other. we think that they just need to be broken in.
I noticed that there is a couple different roller types available for the mecanum wheels. One is gray and the other is like a black rubber. Which would be better for driving on the slippery bridge? Can these be mixed (alternated) to use both types on each wheel?
Also can these rollers be roughed up with sand paper for better traction on the bridge or are there any other tricks for improving bridge traction with the mecanum wheels like adding weight directly over them?
Any tips are appreciated…
Thanks