Load Pushing Capacity Analysis of Individual and Multi-Cooperative Mobile Robot through Symbiotic Application

Abstract

Certain missions require multiple mobile robots working together to accomplish it. There is a need, however, to determine the optimal configuration of modular mobile robots doing cooperative tasks to ensure high utilization and efficiency rate of the individual robot. This study proposed the use of a biosystem-inspired approach in assessing the influence of multiple robots on each other in performing a cooperative pushing task. The kinematics of pushing interaction at a single contact point was first discussed in the study to provide a solid foundation of the mission to be analyzed. Various dimensions in an experimental setup were also covered to better understand how these contribute to planar pushing. Through the resulting symbiotic coefficient, the study was able to determine the optimal configuration among the two, four, and six wheeled mobile robots pushing an object with various loads. While the dominant coefficient for symbiotic relationship was classified as beneficial and only one was neutral, the decline in coefficient values of the 3rd configuration (six wheeled) with respect to the 2nd configuration (4 wheeled) implies possible negative coefficient in the next configuration (8 wheeled). The maximum level of distance at which an object can be pushed was also obtained. This was called the state of plateau wherein adding another module is no longer suggested as it will not improve the pushing capacity any further. Knowing these key points significantly helps in ensuring cost and work efficiency of a given configuration in performing different missions.