Adaptive heading correction for an industrial heavy-duty omnidirectional robot

Abstract

The paper deals with the design and testing of a robot for industrial applications featuring omnidirectionality thanks to the use of mecanum wheels. While this architecture provides remarkable manoeuvrability in narrow or cluttered spaces, it has some drawbacks that limit its widespread deployment in practice, especially for heavy-duty and long-duration tasks. As an example, the variability in the mecanum wheel rolling radius leads to undesired dynamic ill-effects, such as slippage and vibrations that affect the accuracy of pose estimation and tracking control systems. Drawing on the modeling of the kinematic and dynamic behaviour of the robot, these effects have been tackled within an adaptive estimation framework that adjusts the robot control system based on the properties of the surface being traversed. The proposed approach has been validated in experimental tests using a physical prototype operating in real industrial settings.

Phasor-Like Interpretation of the Angular Velocity of the Wheels of Omnidirectional Mobile Robots

“…In this direction, Zhang et al [38] and Hou et al [39] analyzed the power consumption of two omnidirectional platforms using three omni wheels and four mecanum wheels. Galati et al [6] summarized that a platform using four mecanum wheels allows the effective use of 50% of the motors' power when translating along the axis of a wheel, and 71% when translating at 45 • relative to an axis of a wheel; a platform using three omni wheels allows the effective use of 47% of the motors' power when translating along the axis of a wheel, and up to 68% when translating at 30 • relative to the axis of a wheel.…”

“…Omnidirectional transportation vehicles are being used in various heavy-duty industrial applications [1,2] such as logistics [3] and intelligent manufacturing [4] due to their capabilities of navigating in narrow spaces [5,6]. Omnidirectional mobile robots are holonomic platforms that are able to move in any direction while rotating because their translational and rotational motions can be controlled independently [7][8][9].…”

Defining the Consistent Velocity of Omnidirectional Mobile Platforms

“…Terakawa et al [9] studied the motion characteristics of a mecanum-wheeled robot on a slope to determine the effect of wheel skidding on the maximum acceleration and the straight-traveling stability according to the angle of the slope. Galati et al [10] designed a robot for industrial applications and modeled its kinematic and dynamic behaviors to tackle slippage and vibrations affecting the accuracy of pose estimation and tracking control. Mohanraj et al [11] assessed the importance of Machines 2024, 12, 397 2 of 18 the fourth wheel in a four-wheeled robot with omni wheels.…”

Path Following for an Omnidirectional Robot Using a Non-Linear Model Predictive Controller for Intelligent Warehouses

“…In recent decades, the growing demand for online purchases mostly coming from e-commerce and auction websites has led many companies to introduce robotics and technology systems in their warehouses as a way to increase their manufacturing productivity [1][2][3][4]. As a direct result, there has been a significant improvement to all the shipment services, since most couriers are now able to provide same-day delivery option [5] almost everywhere in the world.…”

“…This research work aims to describe the results coming from the application of a non-linear model predictive control (NMPC) used to implement a path planning application on a four-mecanum-wheeled omnidirectional robotic unit moving in dynamic environments. Section 2 includes detailed information about Omnibot, a mobile platform equipped with a sprayer unit that can be used, for example, to mark lines on the floor to delimit dangerous areas or to move large palletized goods inside the warehouses in addition to a description of the predictive controller as briefly described in [18]. Section 3 presents the results coming from the MATLAB simulations, while Section 4 concludes the paper.…”