Trajectory reconfiguration for time delay reduction in the case of unexpected obstacles: application to 4-mecanum wheeled mobile robots (4-MWMR) for industrial purposes

Abstract

Nowadays, wheeled mobile robots have a very important role in industrial applications , namely in transportation tasks thanks to their accuracy and rapidity. However, meeting obstacles while executing a mission can cause an important time delay, which is not appreciable in industry where production must be optimal. This paper proposes a new trajectory reconfiguration approach dealing with obstacle generated time delay, applied on four wheeled omnidirectional mobile robots. A strategy is proposed to compensate or minimize the time delay caused by unexpected obstacles, allowing the robot to respect as well as possible its mission planed duration. This strategy is based on updating the velocity reference profile in real time with respect to the environment changing. The aim is to help the industrial to plan and manage the robot missions, in order to optimize the production.