Research On Theory And Application Of An Omni-directional Platform With Mecanum Wheel

Mecanum wheel (also called Swedish wheel) pioneered by Bengt Iron from Mecanum AB of Sweden has special wheel geometry. Thanks to this special design, a platform consisting of three or more Mecanum wheels with a certain layout has three DOFs, and it can move independently and simultaneously backward and forward or from right to left while rotating. The platform has the ability to move instantaneously in any direction under any configuration. Due to its capacity to move laterally and rotationally, the omni-directional mobile platform has advantages over the conventional mobile ones in various applications, particularly in congesting environment. The primary scope of this paper is as follows:(1) This paper discusses the research background and significance of omni-directional mobile platform. With the introduction of different omni-directional systems'characteristics, the research significance and application status of omni-directional platform with Mecanum wheel is illustrated.(2) Starting with the geometry characteristics of the Mecanum wheel, this paper has not only derived the parametric representations of the wheel's meridian, but also has illustrated several commonly adopted approximations of this meridian. Moreover, according to currently existing references, this paper has established kinematic and dynamic equations of the four-wheel Mecanum platform.(3)By the combination of the kinematic and dynamic model of the four-wheel Mecanum platform as well as the mathematical model of brushless DC motor (BLDC), this paper presents the mechatronic model and the S-function in Matlab/Simulink of the omni-directional four-wheel Mecanum platform driven by BLDC. Meanwhile, with ADAMS software, this research has established the virtual prototype of the omni-directional platform, and based on this virtual prototype, the kinematic simulation has been performed.(4)This paper presents the processes undertaken in the design and development of an omni-directional platform with four Mecanum wheels. It has also designed the control system and drive system according to the system requirement. By using the omni-directional platform employed in this paper, the system's mobility performance and other characteristics have been tested.