which can carry up to 250 pounds
of equipment. The rotating, omnidirectional “trucks” allow for very
precise maneuvering — a great
platform for proving specific AGV
navigation instrumentation and
sensors. This particular experiment
was to test the paths of both trucks
as the robotic platform was put
through its paces.
Wrap-up
FIGURE 13.
experimented with many mobile robot
platforms since 1987 and came up
with a series of ‘CLAPPER’ AGVs or
Compliant Linkage Autonomous
Platform with Position Error
Correction, shown in Figure 11. Note
the ring of Polaroid ultrasonic range
finder sensors. It used two of TRC’s
LabMates and was an experiment in
odometry and dead reckoning. The
actual OmniMate platform came
about in the mid 90s as a result of an
order by Oak Ridge National
Laboratory to TRC “that required a
highly maneuverable, highly accurate
mobile platform with a large mounting surface for auxiliary equipment.”
The OmniMate turned out to
be an excellent test platform for
AGV-type lab experiments. Figure 12
shows the TRC OmniMate and Figure
13 is a diagram showing the rotation
of the two trucks with the drive
wheels, casters, and encoders. It has
a very large 36” by 72” work surface
on which to place manipulators,
test equipment, sensor suites, and
communications devices.
Figure 14 shows an experiment
set up on the OmniMate’s surface
Next time you see an image of a
cart moving along with no driver present or a factory floor or warehouse of
the future, you’ll know you’re probably looking at an AGV. These amazing
robots don’t get the press or media
coverage that bipedal or articulated
industrial robots do, but you can bet
that they are working just as hard to
make the workplace easier. SV
Tom Carroll can be reached
at TWCarroll@aol.com.
Looking for robots?
www.servomagazine.com
FIGURE 14.
80 SERVO 06.2009
