Amazon warehouse KIVA robots can roll forward, sideways, and turn on the spot thanks to special Mecanum wheels. A single wheel has many rollers on the outside edge, turned at a 45 degree angle. Here’s a short video example of what I mean.

What’s really odd about Mecanum wheels is that half turn one way and half turn the other to go in a straight line.

Each wheel is driven by a DC motor. Pairs of motors are connected to 2 channel motor drivers. The two 2-channel drivers are connected to an Arduino that listens for instructions from the pilot (me, in this case).

In 2015 I made an update to this model and put it on a laser cut frame.

ask me and I’ll draw a wiring diagram