Development of a Semi-autonomous Holonomic Load Carrier with Multi-camera Perception

Abstract

This thesis documents the development of a load carrier capable of carrying ten advanced personal robots. The robots of concern are Segway Robotics’ Loomo,which are used for education purposes at the University of Agder. They are used at multiple locations on campus, and it is desired to develop a system that can effectively transport them around. The report covers the concept generation, mechanical design, electrical design and development of a navigation system. A simple and compact design was developed and built. To achieve holonomic drive, the rig was equipped with four mecanum wheels. A mechanical design process was performed tocome up with a solution for mounting the wheels to the rig. This included design of an axle and bearing calculations. Additionally, the stability of the rig had to be verified. Further on,to drive the mecanum wheels, four brushless dc motors were utilized. The system consist of multiple hardware components, which needed to communicate with each other. The solution for this is documented in this report.