Design, Implementation and Validation of the Three-Wheel Holonomic Motion System of the Assistant Personal Robot (APR)

Abstract

This paper presents the design, implementation and validation of the three-wheel holonomic motion system of a mobile robot designed to operate in homes. The holonomic motion system is described in terms of mechanical design and electronic control. The paper analyzes the kinematics of the motion system and validates the estimation of the trajectory comparing the displacement estimated with the internal odometry of the motors and the displacement estimated with a SLAM procedure based on LIDAR information. Results obtained in different experiments have shown a difference on less than 30 mm between the position estimated with the SLAM and odometry, and a difference in the angular orientation of the mobile robot lower than 5° in absolute displacements up to 1000 mm.

Extending the Application of an Assistant Personal Robot as a Walk-Helper Tool

“…The general objective was to test the intuitive user interface and the adaptive trajectory control of the APR during its application as a walk-helper. During the tests the LIDAR raw data, the trajectory measured with the encoders of The advantage of this walk-helper implementation is the use of the kinematic model of the omnidirectional motion system [24] to execute precise and complex displacements without user intervention. This automatic trajectory correction largely minimizes the number of corrections that the user must perform in order to reach the desired destination.…”

“…Figure 1 shows the second generation of the APR prototype concept, a 1700 mm tall human-shaped assistive robot designed to work in households with elder or people with special needs. The motion of all the APR prototypes is based on the use of three omnidirectional wheels [24] that allow it to move across small and complex environments. The main improvement of this second generation is its autonomous operation capabilities based on the incorporation of a high-end integrated computer (Intel Core i7-6700K, 16GB DDR4, SSD Hard Disk) and additional sensors.…”

“…Most of the APR structural parts have been made using fast prototyping techniques based on aluminum laser works and 3D printing [12,24]. The chassis and the wheels are made of aluminum whereas housing, brackets, and support elements are 3D-printed in Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic.…”

“…The advantage of this walk-helper implementation is the use of the kinematic model of the omnidirectional motion system [24] to execute precise and complex displacements without user intervention. This automatic trajectory correction largely minimizes the number of corrections that the user must perform in order to reach the desired destination.…”

Automatic Supervision of Temperature, Humidity, and Luminance with an Assistant Personal Robot

“…The APR-02 ( Figure 1) is designed for the development of full autonomous tasks and is equipped with an improved computational unit, an improved mechanical structure, and an improved motor control board, as well as being compatible with a wider range of sensors. The motion of the mobile robot is defined by a holonomic system composed of three omnidirectional wheels, allowing it to perform complex maneuvers in narrow indoor areas [21]. The mobile robot has a Hokuyo UTM-30LX laser range sensor (LIDAR) with a native resolution of 1 mm which is used for robot localization, mapping, and obstacle avoidance.…”