<p>In this paper, a novel mobile platform for assistive robotics tasks is presented. The machine is designed for working in a domestic, unstructured environment, possibly occupied by people. To work in this space for assistance purpose, the platform should be able to get rid of all the consequent difficulties: to overpass small objects as steps and carpets, to operate with an as-high-as-possible dynamic performance, to avoid moving obstacles, and to navigate autonomously to track persons for monitoring purposes. Consequently, the proposed platform should own omni-directional planar mobility that improves manoeuvrability with respect to state-of-the-art differential drive robots. It also should have a non-axisymmetric shape to easily navigate narrow spaces and real-time edge computing algorithms for navigation. This work shows the design paradigm adopted for the realization of a novel mobile robot, named Paquitop. In order to produce a robust output, the design process made use of a modular approach which disjointed the several sub-systems which compose the machine. After a brief analysis of the expected features, a set of basic requirements can be drawn to guide the functional and executive design. The overall mechatronics architecture of the platform is presented, together with some details on the layout of the mechanical and electrical system.</p>

Mechatronic Design of a Mobile Robot for Personal Assistance

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IDETC-CIE/IDETC-CIE2021/volume/85369

ASME 2021 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (IDETC/CIE2021)

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