Comments on: How do Mecanum Wheels Work? http://jamesprovost.com/blog/how-do-mecanum-wheels-work/ Technical & Scientific Illustration by James Provost Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:54:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Nate Bear http://jamesprovost.com/blog/how-do-mecanum-wheels-work/comment-page-1/#comment-173 Nate Bear Thu, 23 Dec 2010 03:57:39 +0000 http://jamesprovost.com/?p=805#comment-173 Wow! Blows my mind. Great job illustrating it, though i still cant wrap my mind around teh mechanics of it. Wow! Blows my mind. Great job illustrating it, though i still cant wrap my mind around teh mechanics of it.

]]> By: phillip http://jamesprovost.com/blog/how-do-mecanum-wheels-work/comment-page-1/#comment-113 phillip Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:17:49 +0000 http://jamesprovost.com/?p=805#comment-113 this is a really neat video. looks great! the song is real catchy too. who is the musician? this is a really neat video. looks great!

the song is real catchy too. who is the musician?

]]> By: James Provost http://jamesprovost.com/blog/how-do-mecanum-wheels-work/comment-page-1/#comment-108 James Provost Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:49:10 +0000 http://jamesprovost.com/?p=805#comment-108 @Chris, that's right. I used a toon shader (or non-photorealistic renderer) to output the lineart, then After Effects to composite. @Jesse Awesome link, thanks! @Chris, that’s right. I used a toon shader (or non-photorealistic renderer) to output the lineart, then After Effects to composite.

@Jesse Awesome link, thanks!

]]> By: Jesse http://jamesprovost.com/blog/how-do-mecanum-wheels-work/comment-page-1/#comment-107 Jesse Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:26:03 +0000 http://jamesprovost.com/?p=805#comment-107 That's actually the Prototype This forklift. They gave it to Mythbusters when they finished. Check out the Traffic Busting Truck episode where they put those wheels on a truck so it could go in any direction. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af-gR-cKKEM That’s actually the Prototype This forklift. They gave it to Mythbusters when they finished. Check out the Traffic Busting Truck episode where they put those wheels on a truck so it could go in any direction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af-gR-cKKEM

]]> By: Chris Philpot http://jamesprovost.com/blog/how-do-mecanum-wheels-work/comment-page-1/#comment-105 Chris Philpot Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:24:56 +0000 http://jamesprovost.com/?p=805#comment-105 This is a wonderful execution of a really interesting subject. Am I correct in assuming you built this in a 3D software package and output it as line art sans color? Can ask what software you used to create this? Thanks for the work on Technical Illustrators.org. It's a great resource. This is a wonderful execution of a really interesting subject.

Am I correct in assuming you built this in a 3D software package and output it as line art sans color? Can ask what software you used to create this?

Thanks for the work on Technical Illustrators.org. It’s a great resource.

]]> By: Travis http://jamesprovost.com/blog/how-do-mecanum-wheels-work/comment-page-1/#comment-98 Travis Thu, 10 Jun 2010 06:24:48 +0000 http://jamesprovost.com/?p=805#comment-98 The commercial forklifts using mecanum wheels are called AirTrax: http://www.airtrax.com/ These wheels are frequently used on robots due to their non-holonomic nature (ie. they can move sideways): http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/08/20/omnirob-kuka-robotics-foray-omnidirectional-mobile-manipulation-platforms http://www.hizook.com/blog/2010/03/15/cody-new-humanoid-mobile-manipulating-robot-georgia-techs-healthcare-robotics-lab The commercial forklifts using mecanum wheels are called AirTrax:

http://www.airtrax.com/

These wheels are frequently used on robots due to their non-holonomic nature (ie. they can move sideways):

http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/08/20/omnirob-kuka-robotics-foray-omnidirectional-mobile-manipulation-platforms

http://www.hizook.com/blog/2010/03/15/cody-new-humanoid-mobile-manipulating-robot-georgia-techs-healthcare-robotics-lab

]]> By: Sam Dalton http://jamesprovost.com/blog/how-do-mecanum-wheels-work/comment-page-1/#comment-97 Sam Dalton Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:36:00 +0000 http://jamesprovost.com/?p=805#comment-97 Perfect timing! I'm currently studying this in a robotics course and I have an exam for it on Monday :). Great illustration of it, cheers! They're also called Swedish wheels. The faster they go, the more they want to move in direction that the rollers are oriented in (45 degree wheels in the video above are common, but you can even have 90 degree ones). So by varying the speeds of each wheels, you can move in different directions. Perfect timing! I’m currently studying this in a robotics course and I have an exam for it on Monday :). Great illustration of it, cheers!

They’re also called Swedish wheels. The faster they go, the more they want to move in direction that the rollers are oriented in (45 degree wheels in the video above are common, but you can even have 90 degree ones). So by varying the speeds of each wheels, you can move in different directions.

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