The Design, Fabrication and Preliminary Testing of a Variable Configuration Mobile Robot

In this paper a novel low cost mobile robot that can adjust the balance between the energy efficiency and the running performance according to the environment by changing the number of wheels is introduced. The developed robot, which can be constructed by combining the modules and is driven by Robot Operating System (ROS) tools, has a 3D light detection and distance measurement (LiDAR) for generation of 3D digital map and travels through several environment with saving the energy by adaptively changing the number and arrangement of the wheels according to the environment. The robot can easily change the three types of mechanisms by changing the number of modularized driving wheels and their combination. Furthermore, the developed robot can construct a 3D map in a rough outdoor environment and the running performance of three kinds of robots was investigated by an extensive characterization. Finally, the limits of this prototype have been meticulously analyzed, highlighting new improvements in the future perspective development for permitting an autonomous environment perception with a simple, modular and low-cost device.