Drivetrain - Omnis vs. Mecanum

VEX V5 General Discussion General Forum
#1

Are mecanum wheels slower at driving forward compared to omnis?

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#2

Mecanum wheels are much more massive than omnis and as such they will be inherently slower because they need more energy to move.

#3

In addition to what @Sam Zmily said, the mecanum wheel rollers have much more friction than the omnis, which makes them slower and less efficient. Really, the only upside that I know of for mecanums over omnis is that you can mount them on a standard chassis.

#4

I just built a mecanum drive for fun and it seems to me that it is slower, however if you really good good at driving it I could see that strafing would be a nice option and it is fun to do

#5

Another thing you want to keep in mind is the width of mecanum wheels. They are almost twice the width of an Omni and using them may make a wider intake very difficult to make.

#6

Alright, thanks for the info.

#7

If you are looking to make a drive that can strafe, I would recommend an X-Drive over a mecanum drive any day. Basically, you mount the omni wheels at 45° angles (they are perpendicular to each other). It looks like this:

/ /___\
|-|----|-|
\ ____/ /

Edit: I just discovered that Vex Forum doesn’t like several consecutive spaces, so I replaced them with underscores.

#8

I agree with all of the points above.
The main advantage of a mecanum drive over other holonomic drives to me is that they can overcome obstacles.
For example, the bump during tossup could be climbed by an X drive, but it was much easier with mecanum wheels.
I think that you’ll have trouble working with most lifts this year with a common holonomic drive.

#9

I think we are planning to go with an omni and high traction forward facing drive :slight_smile: thanks for the help though

#10

That sounds like a great idea. We actually are driving a similar setup with 6 wheels. The 2 middle ones are traction and the other 4 are omni. We use 3.25" wheels because the traction wheels have better treads for this setup.

#11

Yes, that sounds good too. How many motors are you using?

#12

Just wondering, what’s the advantage to using an x drive over a regular drive train with 2 regular wheels in front and 2 omnis in back? Other than the fact that the x drive can strafe a LOT better. :smiley: Thanks!

#13

You mean an x-drive can strafe. A normal drive can’t strafe at all.

#14

Oops yeah that’s what I meant sorta. Anyways, is the x drive faster at all than the regular drive?

#15

If they are using the same motor and external gears then yes—Pineapples!!!

#16

Technically yes, but my experience is that it isn’t worth it only for the speed boost. You can make a drive faster by simply by changing internal gearing. By using an X-Drive, you compromise flexibility in mounting and space. Also, strafing has not been relevant in any VEX game, including NBN. Most of the top teams this year, and in past years have not used holonomic drives.

#17

I would agree that holonomic drives have never been necessary, but in many scenarios in the past they have been very relevant. It all depends on the strategy and design that you employ.

#18