Designing Omni-Directional Mobile Robot Platform for Research

Machines, as a key workforce in manufacturing, mining, construction, are essential for industry, and socially. However, existing mobile robots’ designs do not provide enough mobility and maneuverability. This is one of the major factors that requires an improved design of mobile robot platform. This thesis is focused on designing an improved Omni-directional robot platform that has good mobility and maneuverability. To realize these conditions, a lot of criteria and constraints need to be considered in the design process. The conceptual design flows of this mobile robot are to satisfy the need of a mobile robot platform, establish Omni-directional mobile robot specifications followed by concept generation and concept selection. A full decomposition of Omni-directional mobile robot was done. This was followed by building a morphology chart to gather several ideas for those sub-functions of mobile robot. Combination of different types of sub-functions will generate several new Omni-directional mobile robot concepts. The concepts were drafted by using Three-dimensional (3-D) Computer Aided Designing SOLIDWORKS software. After concept generation, the concepts were evaluated by using weighted decision matrix method. The best concept was generated from 3-D design to get 2-D technical drawing and kinematics analysis. These analysis and results of the robot performance are presented in this thesi

Designing Omni-Directional Mobile Robot Platform for Research

Machines, as a key workforce in manufacturing, mining, construction, are essential for industry, and socially. However, existing mobile robots’ designs do not provide enough mobility and maneuverability. This is one of the major factors that requires an improved design of mobile robot platform. This thesis is focused on designing an improved Omni-directional robot platform that has good mobility and maneuverability. To realize these conditions, a lot of criteria and constraints need to be considered in the design process. The conceptual design flows of this mobile robot are to satisfy the need of a mobile robot platform, establish Omni-directional mobile robot specifications followed by concept generation and concept selection. A full decomposition of Omni-directional mobile robot was done. This was followed by building a morphology chart to gather several ideas for those sub-functions of mobile robot. Combination of different types of sub-functions will generate several new Omni-directional mobile robot concepts. The concepts were drafted by using Three-dimensional (3-D) Computer Aided Designing SOLIDWORKS software. After concept generation, the concepts were evaluated by using weighted decision matrix method. The best concept was generated from 3-D design to get 2-D technical drawing and kinematics analysis. These analysis and results of the robot performance are presented in this thesi

MAP - A Mobile Agile Printer Robot for on-site Construction

In this paper, we present a Mobile Agile Printer (MAP) construction robot; a highly agile, 4-legged, omnidirectional robot capable of 3D printing large structures. To overcome dynamic challenges when operating within an outdoors construction site, MAP incorporates a high-DoF 3D printing system connected to a mobile platform with novel features designed to enable disturbance rejection and live adaption to the robot's pose. In doing so, we demonstrate the benefits of designing construction robots with a focus on agility, a compact working volume and ability to operate within a potentially unlimited workspace. Performance tests were conducted showing smooth omni-directional motion as a key requirement for maintaining low 3D printing trajectory deviations over a large volume. In doing so, we show that MAP has the ability to construct in new ways more sensitive to its environment, context and concurrent on-site operations

Analysis, design, and control of an omnidirectional mobile robot in rough terrain

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-52).An omnidirectional mobile robot is able, kinematically, to move in any direction regardless of current pose. To date, nearly all designs and analyses of omnidirectional mobile robots have considered the case of motion on flat, smooth terrain. In this thesis, an investigation of the suitability of an active split offset caster driven omnidirectional mobile robot for use in rough terrain is presented. Kinematic and geometric properties of the drive mechanism are investigated along with guidelines for designing the robot. An optimization method is implemented to explore the design space. These analyses can be used as design guidelines for development of an omnidirectional mobile robot that can operate in unstructured environments. A simple kinematic controller that considers the effects of terrain unevenness via an estimate of the wheel-terrain contact angles is also presented. It is shown in simulation that under the proposed control method, near-omnidirectional tracking performance is possible even in rough, uneven terrain.by Martin Richard Udengaard.S.M

Slip Modelling, Estimation and Control of Omnidirectional Wheeled Mobile Robots with Powered Caster Wheels

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Design of a Wheelchair with Legs for People with Motor Disabilities

A proof-of-concept prototype wheelchair with legs for people with motor disabilities is proposed, with the objective of demonstrating the feasibility of a completely new approach to mobility. Our prototype system consists of a chair equipped with wheels and legs, and is capable of traversing uneven terrain and circumventing obstacles. The important design considerations, the system design and analysis, and an experimental prototype of a chair are discussed. The results from the analysis and experimentation show the feasibility of the proposed concept and its advantages

Kinematic and dynamic analysis of mobile robot

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENC

Design of a Mobile Robotic Platform with Variable Footprint

This thesis presents an in-depth investigation to determine the most suitable mobile base design for a powerful and dynamic robotic manipulator. It details the design process of such a mobile platform for use in an indoor human environment that is to carry a two-arm upper-body humanoid manipulator system. Through systematic dynamics analysis, it was determined that a variable footprint holonomic wheeled mobile platform is the design of choice for such an application. Determining functional requirements and evaluating design options is performed for the platform’s general configuration, geometry, locomotion system, suspension, and propulsion, with a particularly in-depth evaluation of the problem of overcoming small steps. Other aspects such as processing, sensing and the power system are dealt with sufficiently to ensure the feasibility of the overall proposed design. The control of the platform is limited to that necessary to determine the appropriate mechanical components. Simulations are performed to investigate design problems and verify performance. A basic CAD model of the system is included for better design visualization. The research carried out in this thesis was performed in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt)’s Robotics and Mechatronics Institute (DLR RM). The DLR RM is currently utilizing the findings of this research to finish the development of the platform with a target completion date of May 2008