Comparative Analysis of Mobile Robot Wheels Design

This paper considers a design of wheeled mobile robot platforms. Each platform is designed for a set of specific tasks and thus is supposed to work in previously known general conditions of its environment. A robotic system could be constructed as a holonomic or a non-holonomic system, which directly correlates with a type of its wheels. In this work we compare different types of mobile robot wheels, including conventional wheels, universal omnidirectional wheels, Mecanum wheels, caster wheels, and steering standard wheels, and analyze the best scenario of design application. This paper shares our experience in selecting wheeled platform design and could be considered as a brief practical guideline for beginners in mobile robot platform design.