Development of an Apparatus and Testing Strategy for Characterizing Rolling Resistance of Omnidirectional Wheels

Abstract

Omnidirectional wheels (omni wheels) are a type of wheel technology similar to caster wheels but capable of simultaneous longitudinal and lateral motion, making them suitable for holonomic motion applications. In recent years, their popularity has grown substantially in areas such as educational robotics, autonomous vehicles, and industrial automation. Despite their similarity to caster wheels in both function and application, omni wheels are a much less mature technology and few agreed-upon standards exist for their design and testing. This thesis covers the design of a test procedure and its requisite test apparatus to characterize the rolling resistance of omni wheels across various test conditions, and focuses specifically on the mechanical and electrical design of an apparatus which can measure the rolling resistance coefficient of omni wheels while modulating their load weight, travel angle, and travel speed.