An Omnidirectional Mobile Millimeters Size Micro-Robot with Novel Duel-Wheels

Abstract

A millimeters size omni-directional mobile micro-robot is presented in this paper. A unique duel-wheel structure is designed for no-slip motion during the steering, by turning the slip friction between the wheel and ground into rolling friction. The robot was driven by four electromagnetic micromotors with 2.1mm?2.1mm?1.3mm size. Three of them are for translation and the other one is for rotation. Kinematics model is analyzed to prove the omni-directional mobility. Virtual-Winding Approach (VWA) and PWM-Based VectorSynthesize Approach(PBVSA) current control methods are presented to satisfy a requirement of higher positioning accuracy. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of this concept.

Keywords

• Micro-robot
• duel-wheel
• micromotor
• current control