When programming an autonomous sequence with a V5 robot, is it advantageous to rely solely on the integrated V5 motor encoders or should it be the best practice to implement a quadrature encoder onto my drive anyways?
In my experience, the V5 integrated encoders are reliable and accurate. However, teams have been implementing “tracking wheels”, which are separate, unpowered wheels from your drive that serve the only purpose of tracking your robot’s position using said quad encoders. In general, you will not need to use them with the V5 system unless you are making a really advanced mechanism.
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Tracking wheels have other advantages too - tracking a wheel that isn’t driven can help to reduce errors caused by wheel slippages or collisions with objects.
The integrated V5 Motor encoders have more slop between itself and the wheel than a traditional external encoder. And if you want to take it a step further, tracking wheels are an option that will provide more accuracy.