Design and modeling of a novel single-actuator differentially driven robot

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a concept design for a single-actuator differentially driven robot. The design is based on connecting two variable-diameter wheels to the same drive shaft. The wheels are designed to have engineered stiffness so that the diameters of the wheels are varied by shifting the weight of the drive mechanism from side to side. We also develop the kinostatic and dynamic models of the mobile platform, which is used later to perform motion planning techniques.