Mecanum wheel

Mecanum wheels consist of rollers with a special geometry and placed in a special way at 45 degree angles that enable the vehicle to move forward-backward, diagonally-laterally, turning in place and going in all directions. Mechanum wheels theoretically increase the degree of freedom of the vehicle it is used in. During the forward-backward movement, all the rollers rotate and shift on the gearbox output shaft axis. During the diagonal movement, the rollers on only two wheels, one from the front and one from the back, make rotational and translational movements, while the rollers on the other wheel, which are in contact with the ground plane, rotate around their own shaft axes. During its lateral movement, the rear and front wheels rotate in opposite directions relative to each other. With the rotational movement turning into a lateral force, the rollers rotate on their own shaft axes and slide under the influence of the lateral force. Mecanum wheels can be specially designed according to the working environment in which they are used or to do a certain job. The most important feature of Mechanum mobile vehicles is that the wheels of the vehicle can move independently of each other. This means increasing the degree of freedom of the vehicle. Basically, we can talk about 10 movements as forward straight/backward straight, right shift/left shift, forward and right diagonal, forward and left diagonal, back and right diagonal, backward and left diagonal, clockwise rotation and counterclockwise rotation.