Autonomous omni-wheeled mobile robots

Abstract

The paper considers designing two mobile robots equipped with omni-wheels and autonomous control systems. One of the robots has two different control modes: either with camera-based tracking system or via operator's remote control. When an operator controls the robot's motion, the human machine interface provides forwarding camera images to the operator control station. The other robot is an electromechanical robot based on the Nokia PUMA 560 industrial manipulator. The manipulator is mounted on the omni-motor-wheel base. Omni-wheels are designed based on the DC motor-wheels. The PUMA control system provides independent manipulator motion of every degree of freedom and every of three omni-motor-wheels of the robot. For spatial orientation and pattern recognition, PUMA was equipped with the single board computer for sensors' signal acquisition and processing.