Development of VmaxCarrier2: omni-directional mobile robot with function of step-climbing

Author

Tadakuma, Kenjiro ; Hirose, Shigeo ; Tadakuma, Riichiro

Author_Institution

Dept. of Mech. & Aerosp. Eng., Tokyo Inst. of Technol., Japan

Volume

3

fYear

2004

fDate

26 April-1 May 2004

Firstpage

3111

Abstract

"VmaxCarrier2" is an omni-directional mobile robot with step-climbing capability, which can be used as a compact, quiet, and durable transportation vehicle in cluttered and cramped environments. We have already developed several kinds of omni-directional mobile robots for situations where it is desirable to be able to move in all directions, such as "VUTON" and "VmaxCarrier". To construct an omni-directional mobile robot with a greatly improved capability to climb steps, we developed the Omni-Disc2, a bent pneumatic actuator, and a pneumatic system. These novel components were constructed into a prototype, and through evaluation experiments we have confirmed the improved step climbing capability of VmaxCarrier2.

Keywords

materials handling equipment; mobile robots; pneumatic actuators; service robots; Omni-Disc2; VmaxCarrier2; bent pneumatic actuator; cluttered environments; cramped environments; durable transportation vehicle; omni-directional mobile robot; step-climbing function; Aerospace engineering; Drives; Floors; Mobile robots; Pneumatic actuators; Propulsion; Prototypes; Transportation; Vehicles; Wheels;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA '04. 2004 IEEE International Conference on

ISSN

1050-4729

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8232-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ROBOT.2004.1307541

Filename

1307541