Holonomic Drive Train has how many degrees of freedom?

• A. 2
• B. 3
• C. 4
• D. 5

Answer: (B)

A holonomic drive train can move freely in the plane in any direction and also rotate. In the plane, that gives three independent motions: translation along two perpendicular axes (x and y) and rotation about the vertical axis. Those three independent motions are the three degrees of freedom. That’s why the correct number is three.

For contrast, a non-holonomic setup like a differential drive can move forward/back and rotate but can’t move sideways without steering, so it effectively has two degrees of freedom in typical planar motion. Holonomic wheels (like mecanum or omni wheels) enable the lateral move, but you still have only one rotation, keeping the total at three.