Holonomic and Omnidirectional Vehicle with Conventional Tires - Robotics and Automation, 1996. Proceedings., 1996 IEEE International Conference on

A new type of holonomic omnidirectionul vehicle which consists of wheel mechanisms without free rollers but with conventional tires is presented. We first present a concept of the new driving wheel mechanism with a tire in the conventional style such QS a rubber tire or a pneumatic tire,"Offset Steered Driving Wheel". The configuration of the wheel has an offset distance between a wheel axle and a steering axle along a direction of wheel traveling. We then describe the kinematics and the control method of Offset Steered Driving Wheel to provide an omnidirectional and holonomic capability for a vehicle by actuating a wheel axis and a steering axis independently. The wheel is non-holonomic system however, we introduce a control strategy to avoid a non-holonomic constraint. Simulation results of the single driving wheel and the twowheeled vehicle are performed to test the control method. Wheel design using conventional tire enables the mechanism to be simple, the motion of the vehicle to be smooth with high payload capability, and the detection of the position and the orientation of the vehicle to be precise. The concept of Offset Steered Driving Wheel is implemented and tested on a prototype of the holonomic omnidirectional vehicle. Experimental results demonstrate high mobiliry of the vehicle prototype.