Design and Experiments of a Foldable Wheeled-Mobile Robot

Abstract

Mobile robots are used in a wide range of applications such as outdoor and indoor tasks. Even though, several design configuration exist for such applications, still extreme operations may require new type of design. An example for an extreme operations is that a mobile robot needs to be moved on a curved path in a confined space. In order to accomplish the task, mobile robot requires new type of body. This study proposes a new type of design of a mobile robot, which has a foldable chassis. The folding angle of the chassis could be adjusted according to the desired road conditions such as L-shaped road. After fabricating the proposed mobile robot, experiments are performed to determine the kinematic behavior capability of the foldable wheeled-mobile robot motion on a L-shaped path. The results demonstrate that the proposed design is feasible, and foldable wheeled-mobile robot can be used on curved paths.