Right now my team is using Mecanum wheels because we like the strafing. However, due to the slow speed, we’re thinking of switching the motors to Turbo, but we’re worried that we might not have enough Torque to carry the mobile goals. Our robot is pretty light (made out of aluminium). Is anyone else here using Mecanum’s and can give some advice? Thanks
It will always be my dream drive to do an 8 turbo motor 8 wheel mecanum drive, BUT they really don’t give an advantage, especially this year. In fact, it makes spacing a pain in the butt for a mobile goal lift, because the wheels are T H I C C. If you aren’t for some reason moving mobile goals, then try out High Speed gearing, I like it a lot. However, if you want the maximum scoring capabilities and speed, you should honestly revert to an X-drive or HS tank drive for this year’s game. I wanted to cry because mecanums don’t help with this year’s game AGAIN. Sigh, maybe next year… Please VEX GDC!!
@Mira Curious as to why you recommend HS tank drive rather than turbo?
I always assume that people are building a robot with all scoring capabilities, which would be too much weight for a 4 motor turbo drive (Mecanum drives pretty much always use 4), even if they use all aluminum.
I agree if you are using mechanum, but if you are going to a traditional take drive, a six motor turbo drive is totally sufficient. There are a lot of very good robots out there with six motor drives that can do everything else and do it well.
True, but there is still the possibility of a DR4B+CB, and who said that they made their robot as light as possible? Even so, I still like the pushing power of HS motors, and they can be a nuisance to another teams if they are trying to play defense against you. Also if you use the 4 in wheels like me, it will zoom around the field with ease.
The OP did say his robot was light and made of aluminum. One of our teams has a robot with a 6 turbo speed motor drive that is mostly aluminum but they added steel to the front and back for inertia with playing defense. They have been tournament champions twice. Another of our teams is switching to a 6 turbo motor drive and it will also have a two motor first state chain bar, one motor single bar second stage, a one motor roller intake for cones, a servo allowing the intake to change angles, and 4 turbo motors on the mobile goal lift. It can handle at least 15 cones on the internally held mogo and can go fairly high on the stationary. That robot will make its tournament debut on the 16th of this month. The team has one tournament championship out of two tournaments so far.
This game will ultimately be about speed. By the end of the season we will be seeing all the cones scored with time left. We are already seeing matches where both teams are well over 100 points. It is only going to go higher.
Yeah, right now we’re using a four motor Mecanum drive with regular motors. The spacing for the mobile goal lift is annoying but we think we can make it work. Our team is having an internal debate on switching to Omni wheels vs using turbo motors with the Mecanums and praying that we still have enoug power to carry mobile goals.
My team is using 4 high-speed motors with our mecanum drive and it’s working great. I would not recommend turbo for mecanum because of the resistance when strafing, but if you can get it to work, more power to you.