Palacín Jordi, Martínez David, Rubies Elena, Clotet Eduard
Laboratory of Robotics, Universitat de Lleida, Jaume II 69, 25001 Lleida, Spain.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 Jan 28;21(3):865. doi: 10.3390/s21030865.
The optimal design of an omnidirectional wheel is usually focused on the minimization of the gap between the free rollers of the wheel in order to minimize contact discontinuities with the floor in order to minimize the generation of vibrations. However, in practice, a fast, tall, and heavy-weighted mobile robot using optimal omnidirectional wheels may also need a suspension system in order to reduce the presence of vibrations and oscillations in the upper part of the mobile robot. This paper empirically evaluates whether a heavy-weighted omnidirectional mobile robot can take advantage of its passive suspension system in order to also use non-optimal or suboptimal omnidirectional wheels with a non-optimized inner gap. The main comparative advantages of the proposed suboptimal omnidirectional wheel are its low manufacturing cost and the possibility of taking advantage of the gap to operate outdoors. The experimental part of this paper compares the vibrations generated by the motion system of a versatile mobile robot using optimal and suboptimal omnidirectional wheels. The final conclusion is that a suboptimal wheel with a large gap produces comparable on-board vibration patterns while maintaining the traction and increasing the grip on non-perfect planar surfaces.
全向轮的优化设计通常着重于使轮的自由滚子之间的间隙最小化，以便最大程度减少与地面的接触间断，从而最大程度减少振动的产生。然而，在实际应用中，一个使用优化全向轮的快速、高大且重量较大的移动机器人可能还需要一个悬架系统，以减少移动机器人上部的振动和振荡。本文通过实证评估一个重量较大的全向移动机器人是否能够利用其被动悬架系统，以便也能使用具有未优化内部间隙的非优化或次优全向轮。所提出的次优全向轮的主要比较优势在于其较低的制造成本以及利用该间隙在户外运行的可能性。本文的实验部分比较了使用优化和次优全向轮的多功能移动机器人运动系统产生的振动。最终结论是，具有较大间隙的次优轮在保持牵引力并增加在非理想平面上的抓地力的同时，会产生类似的车载振动模式。
