1

Wolfram Burgard, Cyrill Stachniss, Maren

Bennewitz, Giorgio Grisetti, Kai Arras
Wheeled Locomotion
Introduction to
Mobile Robotics
2
Locomotion of Wheeled Robots
Locomotion (Oxford Dict.):
Power of motion from place to place
Differential drive (AmigoBot, Pioneer 2-DX)
Car drive (Ackerman steering)
Synchronous drive (B21)
Mecanum wheels, XR4000
y
roll
z motion
x
y
3
Instantaneous Center of Curvature
ICC
For rolling motion to occur, each wheel has to
move along its y-axis
4
Differential Drive
R
ICC

(x,y)
y
l/2

x
v
l
v
r
l
v v
v v
v v l
R
v l R
v l R
l r
l r
r l
l
r

+
=
=
= +

) (
) (
2
) 2 / (
) 2 / (
] cos , sin [ ICC R y R x + =
5
Differential Drive: Forward Kinematics
ICC
R
P(t)
P(t+t)

t
y
x
t t
t t
y
x
y
x
y
x

ICC
ICC
ICC
ICC
1 0 0
0 ) cos( ) sin(
0 ) sin( ) cos(
'
'
'
' ) ' ( ) (
' )] ' ( sin[ ) ' ( ) (
' )] ' ( cos[ ) ' ( ) (
0
0
0

=
=
=
t
t
t
dt t t
dt t t v t y
dt t t v t x

6
Differential Drive: Forward Kinematics
ICC
R
P(t)
P(t+t)

t
y
x
t t
t t
y
x
y
x
y
x

ICC
ICC
ICC
ICC
1 0 0
0 ) cos( ) sin(
0 ) sin( ) cos(
'
'
'
' )] ' ( ) ' ( [
1
) (
' )] ' ( sin[ )] ' ( ) ' ( [
2
1
) (
' )] ' ( cos[ )] ' ( ) ' ( [
2
1
) (
0
0
0

=
+ =
+ =
t
l r
t
l r
t
l r
dt t v t v
l
t
dt t t v t v t y
dt t t v t v t x

tan
] cos , sin [ ICC
d
R
R y R x
=
+ =
Ackermann Drive
R
ICC
(x,y)
y
l/2

x
v
l
v
r
l
v v
v v
v v l
R
v l R
v l R
l r
l r
r l
l
r

+
=
=
= +

) (
) (
2
) 2 / (
) 2 / (

8
Synchonous Drive

y
x
v(t)
( )
t
' ) ' ( ) (
' )] ' ( sin[ ) ' ( ) (
' )] ' ( cos[ ) ' ( ) (
0
0
0

=
=
=
t
t
t
dt t t
dt t t v t y
dt t t v t x

9
XR4000 Drive

y
x
v
i
(t)

i
(t)
' ) ' ( ) (
' )] ' ( sin[ ) ' ( ) (
' )] ' ( cos[ ) ' ( ) (
0
0
0

=
=
=
t
t
t
dt t t
dt t t v t y
dt t t v t x

ICC
10
XR4000
[courtesy by Oliver Brock & Oussama Khatib]
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Mecanum Wheels
4
4
4
4
3 2 1 0
3 2 1 0
3 2 1 0
3 2 1 0
/ ) v v v v ( v
/ ) v v v v ( v
/ ) v v v v ( v
/ ) v v v v ( v
error
x
y
+ =
+ =
+ =
+ + + =

12
Example: Priamos (Karlsruhe)
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Example
14
Odometry
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Tracked Vehicle: Urban Robot
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Tracked Vehicle: OmniTread
[courtesy by Johann Borenstein]
17
Non-Holonomic Constraints
Non-holonomic constraints limit the possible
incremental movements within the
configuration space of the robot.
Robots with differential drive or synchro-
drive move on a circular trajectory and
cannot move sideways.
XR-4000 or Mecanum-wheeled robots can
move sideways (they have no non-
holonomic constraints).
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Holonomic vs. Non-Holonomic
Non-holonomic constraints reduce the
control space with respect to the current
configuration
E.g., moving sideways is impossible.
Holonomic constraints reduce the
configuration space.
E.g., a car and a trailer (not all angles between
car and trailer are possible)
19
Non-Holonomic Drives
Synchro-drive
Differential drive
Ackerman drive