For this year, our team is dicifering upon either a x drive or a mechanum drive.
Here are the pros and cons we have found of each,
Mechanum:
Pros:
Easy to build
Faster??
Cons:
Not as good at turning
Takes up lots of space
X drive:
Pros:
Good at turning (large aspect of starstruck)
Small amount of space taken
Cons:
Harder to build
Slower??
What are you guys doing, what is your opinion on this?
Mecanum drives are very inefficient due to the wheels having a lot of friction.
Another pro about an X drive is that, at least in the way we have built them in the past, the drive ends up with a 45 degree angle at each corner. These 45 degree angles line up perfectly with the 90 degree angle at the corners of the field which makes aligning to the hanging pole very easy to do.
I would totally do a x-drive, they may be a little harder to build, but there are plenty of guides on how to build them. But it is totally worth it, if you look at videos of them, they seem to glide across the floor, being able to go in any direction, perfect for arcade. They are also faster, with less friction, they are way less strong, but can go super fast. They also are way lighter, and take up less space, in case you plan on lifting.
Just have a couple things to point out that I’ve found…
Both drives are pretty bulky to build and have the drive system take decent amounts room.
X drives physically can go faster forward and backwards as well as horizontally.
Mechanum drives begin to become less precise as you go faster.
Mechanum drives tend to be better for pushing forward.
X drives naturally allow for more combination/freedom of movement between the different axises.
I don’t have a lot of experience with mecanum drives, but it’s my understanding that they are a little more lossy in terms of force than X drives. I’m not a physics major.
Think about where you gain and lose force, for example while diagonally strafing in an X drive only two motors are running so obviously you’ve got at least half the driving force.
The same can be said about a mecanum drive…
Mecanum drives and X-drives work exactly the same in principle. However, Vex’s mecanum wheels have much higher friction (and lower efficiency) than omni wheels at 45°. This is the main problem with them.