Ball drive configurations and kinematics for holonomic ground mobility

Biruk A. Gebre, Kishore Pochiraju

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Holonomic motion is desired for mobile ground robots and vehicles as it provides omnidirectional maneuvering capabilities, which can simplify the task of navigating around obstacles in confined spaces and unstructured environments. Mobility platforms that utilize spherical wheels are gaining popularity and interest due to the agile maneuvering and ground traversal capabilities they enable for mobility platforms. Ball-driven mobility platforms have a rich design space as various design parameters are available that can modify the physical and performance characteristics of the platforms. Various configurations for ball-driven mobility platforms are presented along with a generalized kinematic model that can be used for calculating motor velocities for a desired vehicle velocity. A naming convention is also presented in the paper for differentiating between configurations used for ball-driven mobility platforms. Metrics such as platform footprint, platform stability, and actuation force and efficiency are used to compare the configurations and to highlight some of the trade-offs associated with the selection of a configuration. Promising configurations are highlighted based on the metrics selected for the comparisons.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEmerging Technologies; Materials
Subtitle of host publicationGenetics to Structures; Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis
ISBN (Electronic)9780791858493
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017
EventASME 2017 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, IMECE 2017 - Tampa, United States
Duration: 3 Nov 20179 Nov 2017

Publication series

NameASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE)
Volume14

Conference

ConferenceASME 2017 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, IMECE 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityTampa
Period3/11/179/11/17

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