[mch62 (Mark)]

No , not exactly.
A friction drive is where a large disc is driven by direct pressure from a smaller roller disc, which is in turn drive by your steeper or servo motor.
There usually are no belts or gears involved in the final reduction but intermediate reductions to get the ratio low enough my have a small gearbox small worm and wheel set or belts.
The Idea behind the friction roller drive is firstly far less expense than large worm wheel sets, and secondly ultra low or zero periodic error due to the lack of a worm wheel.

A lot of research Telescopes use this system.
The Bartel system is designed to use with either a Dob with some easy modifications or and existing EQ mount with Mods or you start from scratch.
There are some things that have to be carefully designed so that you have enough pressure to stop slippage but not to much to whear out the discs.
My main discs are 600mm diameter and made from steel with a Stainless Steel rim .
On a Dob you can use just a plywood disc and the base plate with aluminum strapped to the outer edge for the motor to press against.
I had priced 2x 12" worm and wheels imported into Australia and it came to over $3000 Australian + drive electronics.
Mels system is $600US and than what ever it costs to make or modify your mount.
My quotes and estimates for the Fork, bearings, 3" solid RA shaft , mounting plates , 2 X 600mm discs ect ect and machining labour comes to around $750 + my time.

Feel free to ask any more questions and I will try to answer them.
I have included a pic of a friction or roller drive.
It uses a friction set up for the intermediate reduction as well.

Mark