Development of a Remote-Control System for a Mobile Vibration-Driven Robot

Vibration-driven locomotion system is a relatively new branch of mobile robotics. The design variety of vibration-driven robots is quite wide, while their control systems need constant improvement from the viewpoint of the robot's operational efficiency, accuracy, production, and maintenance costs. The purpose of this paper is the development, simulation, and practical implementation of a novel control system for a mobile vibration-driven robot. The proposed control system is based on Arduino hardware and software. The developed wheeled robot can be remotely controlled using the Bluetooth interface and the mobile phone with the corresponding Android application installed. The experimental prototype of the mobile robot is tested under different operational conditions (supplied voltages and forced frequencies) regulated by the developed control system. The corresponding kinematic parameters of the robot's wheeled platform and the impact body are registered by the WitMotion accelerometers, and the experimental data are processed with the help of the WitMotion and MathCad software. The results of the presented research can be effectively used while designing and implementing mobile robotic systems for inspecting, cleaning, or maintaining the internal surfaces of various pipelines, tubes, vessels, intestines, etc.