Integrating Mecanum wheeled omni-directional mobile robots in ROS

Abstract

This paper presents a designing scheme of the omni-directional mobile robot basing on the ROS (Robot Operating System). As a ground platform, the robot is built with an embedded personal computer (PC) and an Arduino MEGA 2560 controller board, which serve as the center calculation and control unit, so the control structure is very simple. With the employment of Mecanum wheels, the robot is able to move to any direction flexibly. The assembling of the robotic system, with description of its components as well as mechanical and electronical design, information about the Arduino programming and development are presented. Moreover, ROS offers several tools for sensor access, diagnostics reporting, data analysis, autonomous navigation, use of different sensors and teleoperation devices. Some research result in this paper is conducted through these tools. The system has such advantages as low cost, easy assembly, convenient software development, etc. So this robot can be used as a base for further development on SLAM, tracking, positioning etc. with the use of on-board sensors.