This paper proposes a distributed motion control algorithm of multiple passive mobile robots for handling an object in cooperation with a human. The driving force of the passive mobile robot is an actual force applied by the human and the servo brakes attached to the wheels control its motion. Different from the active-type robot with servo motors, the passive robot has the control limitation based on the brake constraint. In this paper, we consider a feasible region for the brake control of the robot and propose a distributed motion control algorithm of the multiple passive mobile robots for handling a large object along the desired path, in which each robot compensates the control input required by other robots which do not generate it because of the brake constraint. We apply the proposed algorithm to two passive mobile robots called PRP experimentally and they realize an object handling along the desired path accurately.

In this paper, we introduce a passive mobile robot called PRP (Passive Robot Porter), which has passive dynamics with respect to an applied force and its appropriate motion is controlled based on the servo brakes. In this paper, we especially focus on a motion control algorithm of multiple passive mobile robots for handling a large object in cooperation with a human. By controlling each passive mobile robot in the decentralized way, we realize collision avoidance function and path following function of the object to improve the maneuverability for the human operator. The proposed algorithms applied to two PRPs actually, and experimental results illustrate the validity of the proposed algorithms.

In this paper, we introduce a passive mobile robot called PRP (Passive Robot Porter), which has passive dynamics with respect to an applied force and its appropriate motion is controlled based on the servo brakes. This paper especially focuses on a motion control algorithm of multiple passive mobile robots for handling a single object in cooperation with a human. By controlling each passive mobile robot in the decentralized way, we realize several kinds of motion characteristics of the object to improve the maneuverability for the human operator. By changing the apparent dynamics of the representative point of the object and its position, we realize an anisotropic apparent motion characteristic of the handling object and the obstacle avoidance function as examples. The proposed motion control algorithms are implemented to two PRPs actually, and experimental results illustrate the validity of the proposed algorithms.