Capability:Omni Drive

Omni Drive
Type	Actuation
Measures/Controls	Translation and rotation in any direction simultaneously
Common Hardware	Mecanum wheels (4-wheel), omni wheels (3-wheel holonomic)
Enables Activities	Holonomic navigation, precise positioning in tight spaces
Status	Stub - Not yet implemented in BRS robots

Omni Drive is a actuation capability that enables omnidirectional movement using special wheels.

Overview

This is a stub page. This capability is not yet implemented in any BRS robot. This page exists to:

• Document the concept for future implementation
• Invite community members to add it to their robots
• Provide a starting point for hardware selection

What It Controls

Translation and rotation in any direction simultaneously

Common Hardware

Mecanum wheels (4-wheel), omni wheels (3-wheel holonomic)

Enables Activities

Adding this capability to your robot would enable:

Technical Considerations

• **Advantages**: Move in any direction without rotating chassis, strafe capability
• **Disadvantages**: Expensive wheels, complex kinematics, less efficient than differential drive
• **Typical cost**: $50-150 for wheel set
• **Wheel types**: Mecanum (diagonal rollers), omni (perpendicular rollers)
• **Motor count**: 3-4 motors required
• **Surface**: Works best on smooth, hard surfaces

Contributing

Want to add this capability to your robot? Here's how:

1. Select appropriate hardware (see "Common Hardware" above)
2. Mount the hardware to your robot chassis
3. Wire to your microcontroller
4. Write driver code or use existing libraries
5. Test and calibrate
6. Document your implementation
7. Update this page with your findings
8. Share on Discord

See Also

• Capabilities - All capabilities
• Activities - What this capability enables
• Robotics Ontology - How capabilities fit into BRS knowledge structure