Tank Drive

Tank drive is one of the simplest and most common drive systems in robotics. Each side of the robot is controlled independently, similar to how a tank steers.

Typically:

The left joystick controls the left wheels.
The right joystick controls the right wheels.

How It Works

Driving forward means both sides move forward.

Turning is accomplished by moving the two sides at different speeds.

For example:

Left Stick	Right Stick	Robot Motion
Forward	Forward	Forward
Backward	Backward	Reverse
Forward	Backward	Rotate
Half	Full	Gentle turn

Example

double leftPower = -gamepad1.left_stick_y;
double rightPower = -gamepad1.right_stick_y;

leftMotor.setPower(leftPower);
rightMotor.setPower(rightPower);

Notice the negative sign. FTC gamepads report pushing the joystick forward as a negative value.

Advantages

Very simple to implement
Easy to understand
Precise turning
Great for differential-drive robots

Disadvantages

Tank drive only works for robots whose left and right sides can be controlled independently.

It is not suitable for mecanum or omniwheel drivetrains because those robots require additional calculations.

Next Steps

Continue to Arcade Drive for a more intuitive control scheme, or Mecanum Drive for omnidirectional drive.