As part of my work towards my MSEE, I completed a simulation project of a 4-wheeled mecanum vehicle. I became intrigued with this kind of motion after seeing our First Robotics Competition team build one of these vehicles. It allows for translation in any direction, making it a nicely maneuverable platform. It accomplishes this at the expense of efficiency. The wheels have to spin much faster than with a conventional wheel. Also, since each wheel has many rollers, it is not well suited to difficult terrain. In any case, I was pleased with my results.
Want to know more about it? Read the report below!
The take-away from the project was an animation which showed the output of the simulation, including all modes of motion (forwards, backwards, rotation, sideways, and diagonal):
Report documents:
Electronic Fish 
This is very interesting and well presented.
Just sent you a PM oh the topic.
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