Coordinated Transportation of a Single Object by Omni-Directional Mobile Robots with Body Force Sensor

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new mobile robot architecture with a body force sensor. The body force sensor is the force/torque sensor, which is located between the drive mechanism and the body of the mobile robot. The use of the body force sensor almost realizes the collocation of sensor and actuators, and makes the whole body of the mobile robot sensitive to external force/moment. Decentralized motion control algorithm for handling a single object by multiple mobile robots in coordination is implemented in each omni-dirctional mobile robot and multiple mobile robots with the body force sensor realize stable handling of an object. Experimental results illustrate the validity of the proposed architecture.