3輪全方向移動内部ユニットを用いた球体型移動ロボットの機構と制御

抄録

A mobile robot used in homes and offices are required to be able to move around without getting stuck in an environment with various obstacles such as people and furniture, in addition, not to hurt or damage them if it strikes against them. A robot with a spherical body is an effective means to fulfill these requirements. In this study, such a spherical mobile robot that drives a spherical shell with an internal drive unit and can move in all directions is considered. The authors' have proposed a spherical mobile robot driven by an internal unit with three omni-wheels in the past studies. First, this paper describes the structure of a newly developed experimental spherical mobile robot of the proposed scheme employing three omni-wheels in a specific layout. Second, a kinematic model is derived so that the internal unit can transmit the driving force without slipping with respect to the spherical shell. Third, in order to realize vibration suppression control and velocity control of the sphere, a dynamic model and its analysis, a vibration suppression control method, and a feedback control method of the moving direction and the velocity of the sphere shell are described. The proposed model and the methods were examined using the newly developed spherical mobile robot, and these usefulness and effectiveness are confirmed from experimental results.