In this paper, a study of a wheeled mobile robot (WMR) with omni-directional mobility and rover-like climbing ability is presented. Various rovers with robust locomotion design had been developed. However, the rover locomotion design with omni-directional mobility has not been addressed commonly. Shrimp suspension system and parallel bogies were employed as robot locomotion. It adapts to the terrain profile passively and it has better climbing capability than other rovers. To achieve a singularityless motion, the kinematic model of a wheeled mobile robot (WMR), including a platform equipped with six omni-directional wheels (ODWs), is formulated. The contents of this study are the design principle, kinematics, and motion studies. Also, experimental results have been employed to verify the model developed.

This paper focuses on the kinematic modelling, mobility analysis and mechatronics design of a singularityless omni-directional wheeled mobile robot (OWMR). To achieve a singularityless motion, firstly, the kinematic model of a wheeled mobile robot (WMR), a platform equipped with three omni-directional wheels (ODW), is formulated. Based on this model, a smooth trajectory and control command for the 3-wheel OWMR can be obtained. The analysis on the mobility of a WMR is carried out using the functional matrix. It is shown that a WMR with three ODWs has a mobility of three. A WMR with three ODWs was designed and prototyped. Experimental results have been employed to verify the theoretical conclusions.

This paper focuses on the kinematic modelling, mobility analysis and design of an omni-directional wheeled mobile robots (OWMRs). The composite kinematic models of a wheeled mobile robot (WMR)-a WMR is a collection of the platform and the wheel sub-systems-with a platform equipped with three omni-directional wheels is formulated. The analysis on the mobility of a WMR is carried out using the functional matrix. It is shown that a WMR with three omni-directional wheels has a mobility of three. A prototype of a WMR with three omni-directional wheels are designed, built and tested successfully.