With the recent announcement of SwerveXs by Westcoast products, there has been an increase in the present options of low-profile, affordable COTSCommercial, off-the-shelf Swerve. The new modules from WCPWest Coast Products have entered a segment of the market which was previously dominated by REV MaxSwerve, as it was one of the only options available for purchase that is any substantial amount cheaper than the top-of-the-line swerve options from SDSSwerve Drive Specialties.
With these two products existing in a very similar space, it is important to look at both options and compare/contrast them. I aim to break down the important similarities and differences in this thread so that any teams who consider purchasing either module can make the most informed decision possible.
Price Analysis
The table below describes the price of a set of 4 completed modules. For the sake of simplicity, we will assume that Neos and Neo550s are the motor of choice for both modules.
MaxSwerve Drivetrain: Bill of materials - Item Name
Price
MaxSwerve Modules - x4
$300 x 4 = $1200
MaxSwerve Motor and Controller bundles x4
$256 x 4 = 1024
Total:
$2216
Note: The MaxSwerve Motor and Controller bundle is used as the baseline for both estimates as they each require the same configuration as motors. as motors.
Swerve XS is 250 w/o encoder. Either and X1 or X2 ratio set is required.
The encoder price would be a good thing to add on the list for XS. A presoldered cancoder would be most comparable to a rev through bore encoder, so that’s 90 bucks.
The module is $219.99, the ratio is $29.99. A mag encoder or thrifty encoder might be a good option as the rev through bore is not a can based setup, the mag encoder has an abs pwm output and ttb one is abs analog.
Note that the TTBThe Thrifty Bot encoder has an analog output. The CTRECross The Road Electronics Mag Encoder and Canandcoder have PWMPulse Width Modulation output. All options are absolute.
My goal was to provide a fair comparison using the Neo550/Neo combo as a baseline. I agree that teams who are looking to use these options may want to do a price analysis on other motor controller/motor combinations, as well as consider the ecosystem that they are already in.
In regards to the Canandcoder, when I was speccing out the sheets for SwerveXS I was also trying to stick as closely to products that are offered from WCPWest Coast Products. They retail CTRECross The Road Electronics Mag Encoders and Cancoders from their website so when creating a default “profile” to reference for comparison the CANCoder was my product of choice.
I would encourage anyone who is looking at either of these modules to do some research on their options in terms of motors and encoders. Ultimately there are so many good options on the market at this point in time that it is difficult to go wrong. What a time to be a robot nerd!
Thanks for pointing out the pricing error. I had accidentally included the pricing of the ratio set twice when creating my table.
Also, my reasoning for including the CANCoder as opposed to the Mag Encoder was for compatibility with the Neo/Neo550 setup that I am assuming for my pricing sheets. If I were to include another pricing sheet that would reflect the cost to use exclusively WCPWest Coast Products Parts- meaning Kraken x60 and 775 pro motors with TalonSRX Speed controllers- I would choose to include the Mag Encoder. I will update my lists with some more purchase profiles shortly. Thanks for the feedback!
Another important factor to consider is the SwerveXS uses 1" wide tread that is commonly available where the Rev swerve with aluminum wheel option requires you to cut the tread to .850". On 9401 we just bought Thrifty wheels for MaxSwerve so we could use 1" wide tread. I like on the swerveXS that the default option is a standard sized tread.
The price difference is certainly not gigantic. I just thought it a fun topic once I saw the SwerveXs announcement because if it’s innate similarities with Rev Swerve. Ultimately almost all of the modules on the market right now are great options. I’m glad to see even more options popping up on the lower end of the swerve spectrum so that the competitive bar can come up across the board, even for teams where the ~$1000 difference from the flagship modules has been the deciding factor between a swerve and a tank.
Hard to tell with absolute certainty from the picture but it looks like the 1 in wide wheels for SwerveXS is hot swappable while the TTB wheels for MAXSwerve require fork disassembly.