A reconfigurable mechanism for varying the footprint of a four-wheeled omnidirectional vehicle is developed and applied to wheelchairs. The variable footprint mechanism consists of a pair of beams intersecting at a pivotal point in the middle. Two pairs of bad wheels at the diagonal positions of the vehicle chassis are mounted, respectively, on the two beams intersecting in the middle. The angle between the two beams varies actively so that the ratio of the wheel base to the tread may change. Four independent servo motors driving the four ball wheels allow the vehicle to move in an arbitrary direction from an arbitrary configuration as well as to change the angle between the two beams and thereby change the footprint. The objective of controlling the beam angle is threefold. One is to augment static stability by varying the footprint so that the mass centroid of the vehicle may be kept within the footprint at all times. The second is to reduce the width of the vehicle when going through a narrow doorway. The third is to apparently change the gear ratio relating the vehicle speed to individual actuator speeds. First the concept of the varying footprint mechanism is described, and its kinematic behavior is analyzed, followed by the three control algorithms for varying the footprint. A prototype vehicle for an application as a wheelchair platform is designed, built, and tested.
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