Characterization of motion power loss of off-road wheeled robot in a slippery terrain

For the first time in realm of power study of off-road wheeled robots, this study deals with motion power loss due to slippage of robot wheels traversed on slippery terrain. For this purpose, effects of slippery terrain type (solid balls with diameter of 0.0127, 0.0254, and 0.0508 m), tire air pressure (20.68, 34.47, and 55.16 kPa), and robot forward speed (0.17, 0.33, and 0.5 m/s) on the power loss were characterized. Derived results proved that the increasing effect of slippery terrain type on the power loss was dominant (1.08 and 3.21 times) than that of robot forward speed and tire air pressure, respectively. Meanwhile, the increasing effect of robot forward speed on the power loss was prevailed (2.98 times) than that of tire air pressure. Hence, to minimize the power loss of the robot traversed on each type of slippery terrain, adjustment of robot forward speed should be considered as first priority. A comparison between motion power loss (43.60–249.40 W) and provided motion power for the robot (136–436.37 W) implies that 12.93–75.44% of provided motion power was wasted by slippage of the robot wheels on slippery terrains. Overall, the analytical results obtained in this study lead to open a new prospection for comprehending of the power loss trends of off-road wheeled robots traversed on slippery terrains. As slippery terrain composed of solid balls, the results can be especially utilized for final phase of unloading robotic operations of catalyst handling procedure in process towers and reactors of oil, gas, petrochemical, and chemical industries.