Autonomous Navigation System for Robotics Structures Equipped with Mecanum Wheels

Scholar competitions in the field of robotics have grown considerably in recent years, enjoying a great popularity both in the university and in the high school environments. The spread of these competitions has inevitably led to the increase of the complexity of the tasks which need to be completed by the robots and the demands of the organizers. Counted among the most important and toughest to achieve requirements is the need for autonomous navigation during the competition. In the current paper, the authors present an autonomous navigation algorithm using the odometry method. This involves calculating the position and orientation of the robot in the field at any time using the information from the sensors located on it. The algorithm presented is intended for robotic structures with mecanum wheels, these have a special mechanical structure that allows, by combining the direction of rotation of the wheels, the movement of the robot on any trajectory. Finally, the paper presents the results obtained by using the algorithm in an international robotics competition addressed to high school students.