• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.211-218
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• 2011

We reported the design, prototype, test drive, and mechanical & electrical engineering analyses of a power-lifting wheelchair using mecanum wheels. Mecanum wheels enable translational and rotational movement of the device in any direction on the ground. The power-lifting capability enables the seated individual to reach the standing height of a non-disabled individual. This mecanum wheelchair is fully controlled by the joystick attached to the armrest. The motion of the wheelchair and lifting action of the seat were studied using statics and dynamics. We believe this mecanum wheelchair is a prime candidate for commercial production.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 2014

In order to provide a mobile robot with omnidirectionality, various types of omnidirectional wheels have been developed. This paper deals with an improved design and structural analysis of a Mecanum wheel, which is the type of omnidirectional wheels most commonly used in industrial fields. A geometric formulation for manufacturingthe Mecanum wheel is presented and two types of Mecanum wheels are designed and fabricated in this research. While conventional assembled-type Mecanum wheels have a complicated structure and the high possibility of mutual interference between sub-components, a unified type of Mecanum wheel reduces the number of sub-components and increases the degree of structural rigidity. The stress and strain properties of the two designs are compared to confirm the quantitative improvement of the new design by a commercial structural analysis tool. The analysis results show that the unified type of Mecanum wheel has properties superior to the assembled type of Mecanum wheel in terms of its ability to reduce interference.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.713-717
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• 2014

In this paper, the travel control of the spherical wheeled robot with a mecanum wheel is impelemented. Four typical wheels or three omni wheels are used to consist of the ball-bot. the slip is occured when the typical wheels is used to the ball-bot. In order to reduce these slip, the spherical wheeled robot with macanum wheels is proposed. Through some experiments, we find that the proposed spherical wheeled robot with a mecanum wheel is superior to the conventional spherical wheeled robot with typical wheels.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.58-65
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• 2021

Most pipe-inspection robots have fixed sizes and use a wired cable system. Pipelines are generally composed of various structures, including bent pipes, vertical pipes, branch pipes, and holes, and it is difficult to explore the insides of such modular piping structures. In an offshore plant pipeline, a robot that can pass through the pipe hole in the downward direction or avoid obstacles, such as a measuring instruments, has not been introduced yet. In this study, an inspection robot that can travel through most pipelines in offshore plants is proposed. This robot uses mecanum wheels; upward, downward, and rotary motion; and a novel rotatable mechanism. Moreover, the robot is designed to be compact and lightweight to include additional devices in the middle.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.256-264
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• 2018

Unlike normal wheels, the Mecanum wheel enables omni-directional movement regardless of the orientation of a mobile robot. In this paper, a robust trajectory tracking control method is developed based on the dynamic model of the Mecanum wheel mobile robot in order that the mobile robot can move along the given path in the environment with disturbance. The method is designed using the impedance control to make the mobile robot to track the path, and the integral sliding mode control for robustness to disturbance. The good performance of the proposed method is verified using the MATLAB /Simulink simulation and also through the experiment on an actual Mecanum wheel mobile robot. In both the simulation and the experimentation, we make the mobile robot move along a reference trajectory while maintaining the robot's orientation at a constant angle to see the characteristics of the Mecanum wheel.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.401-407
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• 2019

In this paper, the position estimation considering wheel slip of mecanum wheeled mobile robots is discussed. Since the mecanum wheeled mobile robot does not need a space to rotate, it is very suitable in narrow industrial fields. However, the slip caused by the roller attached to the wheel makes it difficult to estimate the position precisely. Due to these limitations, mecanum wheels are rarely applied to unmanned mobile robots in automation factories. In this paper, a method to compensate the orientation and distance error caused by the slip is proposed. The exact orientation is measured by fusing gyro and magnetometer sensor data with application of Kalman filter. In addition, the kinematic model accounting slip effects will be defined to compensate the distance error.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.155-163
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• 2023

Auto Guided Vehicle (AGV) equipped with mecanum wheels can move in all directions, unlike ordinary wheeled AGVs. In this paper, we propose a robust trejectory tracking control method for the mecanum wheeled AGVs in the presence of disturbances. It is constructed by combining impedance control with Integral Sliding Mode Control (ISMC), which shows robust performance against disturbances, and adding a disturbance observer (DOB) that estimates and removes disturbances. Simulation result using MATLAB/SIMULINK shows that the proposed control method has robust performance in tracking the reference trajectory under the circumstance with disturbance. The control performance is further improved when the disturbance observer is additionally used. In addition, the performance of the proposed control method was verified through experiment. It shows the result of tracking the set trajectory well.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.141-147
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• 2015

In this study, a position control algorithm for an omni-directional mobile robot based on Mecanum wheels was introduced and experimentally evaluated. Multiple ultrasonic sensors were installed around the mobile robot to obtain position feedback. Using the distance of the robot from the wall, the position and orientation of the mobile robot were calculated. In accordance with the omni-directional velocity generation mechanism, the velocity kinematics between the Mecanum wheel and the mobile platform were determined. Based on this formulation, a simple and intuitive position control algorithm was suggested. To evaluate the control algorithm, a test bed composed of artificial walls was designed and implemented. While conventional control algorithms based on normal wheels require additional path planning for two-dimensional planar motion, the omni-directional mobile robot using distance sensors was able to directly follow target positions with the simple proposed position feedback algorithm.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.374-379
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• 2014

Mobile robots with omni-directional wheels can generate instant omni-directional motion without requiring extra space to change the direction of the body. Therefore, they are capable of moving in an arbitrary direction under any orientation even in narrow aisles or tight areas. In this research, an omni-directional mobile robot based on Mecanum wheels was developed to achieve omni-directionality. A CompactRIO embedded real-time controller and C series motion and I/O modules were employed in the control system design. Ultrasonic sensors installed on the front and lateral sides were utilized to measure the distance between the mobile robot and the side wall of a workspace. Through intensive experiments, a performance evaluation of the mobile robot was conducted to confirm its feasibility for industrial purposes. Mobility, omni-directionality, climbing capacity, and tracking performance of a squared trajectory were selected as performance indices to assess the omni-directional mobile robot.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.236-241
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• 2015

This paper presents a study on transformable multiple quadruped robots by docking between robots and waist joints. This robot is able to go on a variety of angles because of mecanum wheels. It is also a hybrid design which allows robot use legs to overcome obstacles on complex terrains and wheels to move on flat ground. The robot is applied kinematics of mecanum wheels and walking, and its walking is based on specific patterns. Docking module is located in front and backside of robot, docking algorithm is suggested and fulfilled for docking between 2 robots. A waist joint is at the center of robot body for transformation and after docking and transformation, robot can activate new functions that carry something.