Floor‐cleaning robot using omni‐directional wheels

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an omni‐directional floor‐cleaning robot equipped with four omni‐directional wheels. The research purposes are to design a robot for cleaning jobs in domestic, narrow and crowded places and to provide a robotics‐study platform in a laboratory. Design/methodology/approach – The robot system using Swedish wheels, one dust collector (brush) switching device and a sort of air‐bag sensing device is designed. The kinematics and the motion control conditions of the robot are analyzed. Specifically, a design method of wheels is described. Findings – The configuration of the robot, parameters of the wheel and controlling methods are studied and demonstrated. The smooth locomotion capability and high‐working efficiency are verified by experiments. Practical implications – The robot can perform its work in semi‐autonomous and tele‐operated mode. Moreover, the robot can pivot around, avoid obstacles and is provided with automatic power management system. Originality/value – The research target is to provide a kind of robotic cleaner especially for crowded public or narrow places and educational robotics‐study platform in a laboratory.