Flexible docking mechanism using combination of magnetic force with error-compensation capability

An auto-recharging system for a mobile robot can help the robot to perform its tasks constantly and without human intervention. For implementing the system, a docking mechanism is required. This paper presents a new docking mechanism with a localization error-compensation capability. The proposed mechanism uses the combination of mechanical structure and magnetic forces between the docking connectors. It is a structure to improve the allowance ranges of lateral and directional docking errors, in which the robot is able to dock into the docking station. Consequently, this mechanism reduces dependency of a robot control and allows easy docking with only mechanical configuration. In this paper, the superiority of the proposed mechanism is verified with experimental results.