Update: Here is how to make them really fast & stable.. but project will go no further, omni has arrived
I got really pi**ed off by the fact that it was hard to get omni-directional wheels, and impossible to get 4 "Mecanum Wheels" for anything less than USD 275 exclusive P&P.
So in a blind rage I found myself grinding teeth, mumbling "how hard can it fu*king be?", drilling in CD's cutting straws and hot-gluing sticks on wheels.. and voila! After 10 minutes, I had a working (though ugly) prototype!
Yes, it's working :)
This inspired me, so I thought I'd share it with you :)
Simply genius! I’ve been Simply genius! I’ve been pondering how to make these for a while as they are expensive. I’ve been eyeing the ones sold at www.acroname.com for a while but can’t bring myself to pay the cost for a simple wheel. I’m gonna try these out. It may cause me to change directions on how I want to maneuver my bot. Do post video!
The structure of this The structure of this prototype seems worrisome, like it might cause more frustration if trying to use them as built. I remember an earlier mechanum prototype that made use of a single flat disk, instead of 2 like above and current AndyMark offerings. The disk was divided into at least 8 “spokes” that were twisted the standard 45 degrees, then a pair of wheels mounted on each side of a given spoke with a bolt as a shaft. That seemed like it would provide sufficient mechanical stiffness to operate in the way needed for the mechanum “translation” modes.
I just saw a video with those type of wheels. 