Omnidirectional mobile robot design with height and width adaptation

Abstract

This paper aims to present an innovative design in order to skip obstacles with dimensions adjustments. These adjustments are carried out by width and height adaptations. The capability of overcoming the obstacles with the minimum amount of energy consumption is considered to be superiority. In some applications, bypassing the obstacles is impossible or inefficient. The width adjustment of the robot is fulfilled by a special mode of wheels rotation configuration and without an extra actuator. A linear actuator is mounted on the platform to make the height adjustment possible. In additions, the kinematic equations have been derived and also compared with simulation in ADAMS software. A practical application for overcoming an obstacle is simulated to prove the presented design is able to function in the environment effectively. The obtained results from Adams show 6% difference with the kinematic analysis.