Development of an Autonomous Mobile Robot to Transport Heavy Objects on Narrow Allays and Steep Slopes

Abstract

In this study, we developed a four-wheel driven autonomous mobile robot to transport heavy objects on narrow alley and steep slopes. The robot, which weighs 450kg, is driven by four 650W hub motors to climb 20-degree steep slopes and travel through a narrow alley. Two 2D-LiDARs attached to the front and rear of the robot body are used for highly accurate driving. A method based on least squares approach for estimating the position and posture of the robot body is proposed by using the point cloud information of the side wall of the narrow alley. Field experiments on test courses demonstrated that the autonomous robot can transport heavy objects over steep slopes and travel in a narrow alley with high accuracy.