The mecanum wheel is an omnidirectional wheel design for a land-based vehicle to move in any

direction. It is sometimes called the Swedish wheel or Ilon wheel after its inventor, Bengt Erland
Ilon (1923–2008),[1] who conceived of the concept while working as an engineer with
the Swedish company Mecanum AB, and patented it in the United States on November 13, 1972.
[2]

Design[edit]
The mecanum wheel is a form of tireless wheel, with a series
of rubberized external rollers obliquely attached to the whole circumference of its rim. These
rollers typically each have an axis of rotation at 45° to the wheel plane and at 45° to the axle line.
[3]
Each Mecanum wheel is an independent non-steering drive wheel with its own powertrain, and
when spinning generates a propelling force perpendicular to the roller axle, which can
be vectored into a longitudinal and a transverse component in relation to the vehicle.

The typical Mecanum design is the four-wheel configuration as demonstrated by one of the
URANUS omni-directional mobile robot[4] (pictured) or a wheelchair with Mecanum wheels
(similar to that pictured).,[5] with an alternating with left- and right-handed rollers whose axles at
the top of the wheel are parallel to the diagonal of the vehicle frame (and hence perpendicular to
the diagonal when at where the bottom of the wheel contacts the ground). In such a way, each
wheel will generate a thrust roughly parallel to the corresponding frame diagonal. By varying the
rotational speed and direction of each wheel, the summation of the force vectors from each of the
wheels will create both linear motions and/or rotations of the vehicle, allowing it to maneuver
around with minimal need for space. For example:

 Running all four wheels in the same direction at the same speed will result in a
forward/backward movement, as the longitudinal force vectors add up but the
transverse vectors cancel each other out;
 Running (all at the same speed) both wheels on one side in one direction while the
other side in the opposite direction, will result in a stationary rotation of the vehicle,
as the transverse vectors cancel out but the longitudinal vectors couple to generate
a torque around the central vertical axis of the vehicle;
 Running (all at the same speed) the diagonal wheels in one direction while the other
diagonal in the opposite direction will result in a sideways movement, as the
transverse vectors add up but the longitudinal vectors cancel out.
A mix of differential wheel motions will allow for vehicle motion in almost any direction with any
rotation.

Use[edit]
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The US Navy bought the patent from Ilon and put researchers to work on it in the 1980s
in Panama City, Florida. The US Navy has used it for transporting items around ships. In 1997,
Airtrax Incorporated and several other companies each paid the US Navy $2,500 for rights to the
technology, including old drawings of how the motors and controllers worked, to build an
omnidirectional forklift truck that could maneuver in tight spaces such as the deck of an aircraft
carrier. These vehicles are now in production.

Tracked vehicles and skid steer vehicles utilize similar methods for turning. However, these
vehicles typically drag across the ground while turning and may do considerable damage to a
soft or fragile surface. The high friction against the ground while turning also requires high-torque
engines to overcome the friction. By comparison, the design of the Mecanum wheel allows for in-
place rotation with minimal ground friction and low torque.

Youth robotics competitions such as FIRST Tech Challenge and VEX Robotics often use
mecanum wheels. Robotics teams need to move efficiently on the field in order to score the most
points possible, so many teams have adapted mecanum wheels from suppliers such as Nexus
and GoBilda.