Rover Omni Wheel Test
2,415 views · Published 20 August 2017 · 0:38 · Indexed 8 October 2026
Channel: bratan007 · 2017 · Music
A little story: I've been trying to build a tele-presence robot (rover) that can go anywhere in the house. Chassis is based on "rocker-bogie" system used by Mars rovers "Curiosity" and "Pathfinder". I obviously failed miserably, as my first prototype would only (barely) move forward and backward. When attempting to turn it, it would fold and start breaking apart. One issue is to much flex in the frame. It's very weak, constructed out of acrylic and aluminum channels with bad proportions... Second issue was wheels. I use "skid-steer" tank like turning and I've used pre-made wheels with tires. They just provide too much interference called turning scrub. To address this issue I built my own omni-wheels using 3D printer and laser cutter. As you can see omni-wheels provide amazing turning on a spot even for such terribly poor constructed frame. They are not perfect, and I might print flexible rollers instead of rigid ones in the future, but the fact that I can now use skid-steering for such poorly constructed frame makes me hopeful :) I will make design open source once I get it working...
