Improved moving properties of an omnidirectional vehicle using stepping motor

Many kinds of omnidirectional vehicles driven by DC motors have been proposed and developed for application in robotics systems, but they have various problems like stability or operability in practical use, and have to be controlled by feedback system. This paper describes the improved moving properties of an omnidirectional vehicle driven by a stepping motor. An omnidirectional vehicle, which can move in all directions without changing the body direction of the vehicle, has been developed. This omnidirectional vehicle is used as the base of a calligraphy robot which is able to write Chinese characters using a brush. The movement and the control of this vehicle are evaluated, and the fields where this vehicle can be used are examined. Experimental results show that the proposed device is useful in achieving the desired performance.