Thanks for playing along with our last Mecanum wheels lunch-break teaser.
Correct solution:
Wheel 1 forward, wheel 2 backward, wheel 3 backward, wheel 4 forward
Why does this make the robot move to the right?
Mecanum wheels generate force vectors at a 45° angle due to their rollers.
When all four wheels rotate, each wheel produces:
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a longitudinal force component (forward/backward)
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and a lateral force component (sideways)
For a pure rightward motion:
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The front-left and rear-right wheels rotate forward
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The front-right and rear-left wheels rotate backward
In this configuration:
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The forward/backward force components cancel each other out
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The sideways force components add up in the same direction
You can also think of it this way:
the two wheels on one diagonal “pull” sideways while the wheels on the other diagonal “push” sideways – and because of the roller orientation, all lateral forces point to the right.
That’s the beauty of Mecanum kinematics: by combining wheel directions, you can decouple translation and rotation and move omnidirectionally without steering.
At EduArt, this is exactly what we mean by Educational Art: understanding not only how a robot moves, but why it moves that way.
With our Eduard robot platform, you can try this yourself – in simulation first and then almost 1:1 on real hardware. Switch between skid steering and Mecanum drive, use ROS-based workflows, and experiment with your own control logic.
What should the next lunch-break teaser be about?
Another drive concept, sensors, kinematics, or control theory?
Let us know in the comments or send us a message.
EduArt – The Educational Art of teaching autonomous systems.
Stay tuned for the next Lunch-break Teaser 