Multi-Material Anisotropic Friction Wheels for Omnidirectional Ground Vehicles

Genya Ishigami; Jim Overholt; Karl Iagnemma

doi:10.20965/jrm.2012.p0261

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JRM Vol.24 No.1 pp. 261-267

doi: 10.20965/jrm.2012.p0261

(2012)

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Multi-Material Anisotropic Friction Wheels for Omnidirectional Ground Vehicles

Genya Ishigami^, Jim Overholt^, and Karl Iagnemma^

^*Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210, Japan

^**United States Army TARDEC, 6501 E. 11 Mile Road, Warren, MI 48397, USA

^***Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Received:

April 26, 2011

Accepted:

October 6, 2011

Published:

February 20, 2012

Keywords:

omnidirectional mobile robot, anisotropic friction property

Abstract

In this paper, a novel wheel design utilizing the anisotropic friction property for omnidirectional vehicles is presented. The proposed wheel has a series of bendable “nodes” on its circumference, each of which is made of two materials with differing friction properties: one material exhibits high friction, and the other exhibits low friction. The high friction section of the node generates a high traction force, while the low friction section enables the wheel to passively skid. The wheels are arranged such that the robot wheel exhibits high traction in its drive direction (much like a conventional tire), but low traction when sliding laterally. Exploiting this “anisotropic friction” property, the proposed wheel enables a vehicle to realize omnidirectional motion (i.e., the vehicle can move any direction within the plane - forward, back, or laterally). While many other omnidirectional wheel drives exist, the proposed wheel is simpler than any other existing design because the wheel is composed of a single, moldable element. This paper summarizes the design of the proposed wheel and presents experimental comparisons between an omnidirectional robot using the proposed wheel and an omnidirectional robot using conventional wheels.

Cite this article as:

G. Ishigami, J. Overholt, and K. Iagnemma, “Multi-Material Anisotropic Friction Wheels for Omnidirectional Ground Vehicles,” J. Robot. Mechatron., Vol.24 No.1, pp. 261-267, 2012.

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References

[1] J. Blumrich, “Omnidirectional Wheel,” US Patent 3, 789, 947, 1974.
[2] R. Smith, “Omnidirectional Vehicle Base,” US Patent 4, 715, 460, 1987.
[3] S. Fujisawa, K. Ohkubo, T. Yoshida, N. Satonaka, Y. Shidama, and H. Yamaura, “Improved Moving Properties of an Omnidirectional Vehicle Using Stepping Motor,” Proc. the 36th Conf. on Decision and Control, San Diego, CA, pp. 3654-3657, 1997.
[4] R. Williams, B. Carter, P. Gallina, and G. Rosati, “Dynamic Model with Slip for Wheeled Omni-Directional Robots,” IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation, Vol.18, No.3, pp. 285-293, 2002.
[5] B. Ilon, “Wheels for a course stable self-propelling vehicle movable in any desired direction on the ground or some other base,” US Patent 3, 876, 255, 1975.
[6] P. Muir and C. Neuman, “Kinematic Modeling for Feedback Control of an Omnidirectional Wheeled Mobile Robot,” Proc. the 1987 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Raleigh, NC, pp. 1772-1778, 1987.
[7] J. Agullo, S. Cardona, and J. Vivancos, “Kinematics of vehicles with directional sliding wheels,” Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol.22, Issue 4, pp. 295-301, 1987.
[8] A. McCandless, “Design and construction of a robot vehicle chassis,” Honours Thesis, The University of Western Australia, 2001.
[9] A. Gfrerrer, “Geometry and kinematics of the Mecanum wheel,” Computer Aided Geometric Design, Vol.25, Issue 9, pp. 784-791, 2008.
[10] T. Okada, T. Ohya, H. Kawasaki, S. Fujiwara, and N. Mimura, “Structure of Skid Wheels and their Motional Characteristics for the Vehicle in Pipe,” J. of the Robotics Society of Japan, Vol.17, No.6, pp. 905-913, 1999 (in Japanese).
[11] N. Cheng, G. Ishigami, S. Hawthorne, H. Chen, M. Hansen, M. Telleria, R. Playter, and K. Iagnemma, “Design and Analysis of a Soft Mobile Robot Composed of Multiple Thermally Activated Joints Driven by a Single Actuator,” Proc. of the 2010 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Anchorage, AK, pp. 5207-5212, 2010.
[12]
Supporting Online Materials:[a] Kornylak Corporation, Transwheel®,
http://www.kornylak.com/wheels/wheels.html
[13] [b] AirTrax, http://www.airtrax.com/
[14] [c] Connex500TM Multi-Material 3D Printing System,
http://www.objet.com/3D-Printer/Objet connex500/

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationa License.

[1] [1] J. Blumrich, “Omnidirectional Wheel,” US Patent 3, 789, 947, 1974.

[2] [2] R. Smith, “Omnidirectional Vehicle Base,” US Patent 4, 715, 460, 1987.

[3] [3] S. Fujisawa, K. Ohkubo, T. Yoshida, N. Satonaka, Y. Shidama, and H. Yamaura, “Improved Moving Properties of an Omnidirectional Vehicle Using Stepping Motor,” Proc. the 36th Conf. on Decision and Control, San Diego, CA, pp. 3654-3657, 1997.

[4] [4] R. Williams, B. Carter, P. Gallina, and G. Rosati, “Dynamic Model with Slip for Wheeled Omni-Directional Robots,” IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation, Vol.18, No.3, pp. 285-293, 2002.

[5] [5] B. Ilon, “Wheels for a course stable self-propelling vehicle movable in any desired direction on the ground or some other base,” US Patent 3, 876, 255, 1975.

[6] [6] P. Muir and C. Neuman, “Kinematic Modeling for Feedback Control of an Omnidirectional Wheeled Mobile Robot,” Proc. the 1987 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Raleigh, NC, pp. 1772-1778, 1987.

[7] [7] J. Agullo, S. Cardona, and J. Vivancos, “Kinematics of vehicles with directional sliding wheels,” Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol.22, Issue 4, pp. 295-301, 1987.

[8] [8] A. McCandless, “Design and construction of a robot vehicle chassis,” Honours Thesis, The University of Western Australia, 2001.

[9] [9] A. Gfrerrer, “Geometry and kinematics of the Mecanum wheel,” Computer Aided Geometric Design, Vol.25, Issue 9, pp. 784-791, 2008.

[10] [10] T. Okada, T. Ohya, H. Kawasaki, S. Fujiwara, and N. Mimura, “Structure of Skid Wheels and their Motional Characteristics for the Vehicle in Pipe,” J. of the Robotics Society of Japan, Vol.17, No.6, pp. 905-913, 1999 (in Japanese).

[11] [11] N. Cheng, G. Ishigami, S. Hawthorne, H. Chen, M. Hansen, M. Telleria, R. Playter, and K. Iagnemma, “Design and Analysis of a Soft Mobile Robot Composed of Multiple Thermally Activated Joints Driven by a Single Actuator,” Proc. of the 2010 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Anchorage, AK, pp. 5207-5212, 2010.

[12] [12]
Supporting Online Materials:[a] Kornylak Corporation, Transwheel®,
http://www.kornylak.com/wheels/wheels.html

[13] [13] [b] AirTrax, http://www.airtrax.com/

[14] [14] [c] Connex500TM Multi-Material 3D Printing System,
http://www.objet.com/3D-Printer/Objet connex500/

Multi-Material Anisotropic Friction Wheels for Omnidirectional Ground Vehicles

Genya Ishigami*, Jim Overholt**, and Karl Iagnemma***

Genya Ishigami^, Jim Overholt^, and Karl Iagnemma^