Suboptimal Omnidirectional Wheel Design and Implementation
Laboratory of Robotics, Universitat de Lleida, Jaume II 69, 25001 Lleida, Spain
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Academic Editor: Santiago T. Puente
Sensors 2021, 21(3), 865; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21030865
Received: 24 December 2020
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Revised: 19 January 2021
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Accepted: 25 January 2021
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Published: 28 January 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assistance Robotics and Sensors)
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.
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Keywords:
mobile robot; omnidirectional motion; vibration measurement
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MDPI and ACS Style
Palacín, J.; Martínez, D.; Rubies, E.; Clotet, E. Suboptimal Omnidirectional Wheel Design and Implementation. Sensors 2021, 21, 865. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21030865
AMA Style
Palacín J, Martínez D, Rubies E, Clotet E. Suboptimal Omnidirectional Wheel Design and Implementation. Sensors. 2021; 21(3):865. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21030865
Chicago/Turabian StylePalacín, Jordi, David Martínez, Elena Rubies, and Eduard Clotet. 2021. "Suboptimal Omnidirectional Wheel Design and Implementation" Sensors 21, no. 3: 865. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21030865
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