Mission reliability estimation of mobile robot system

摘要

Reliability analysis of a mobile robot system over a period of 34 months was carried out. Most of the failure modes were identified and the descriptive statistics at component level were calculated. Several theoretical distributions were applied and the best fit of failure data was identified. Furthermore, the reliability, probability density functions and hazard rate modes for all components and the entire system were calculated. It was found out that, (a) the encoder and the tires stand for 73.8 % of all the failures of the mobile robot system, (b) for the mobile robot the time-between-failure ranges from 5 to 2128 h, and (c) the highest reliability is observed at the battery, whereas the lowest reliability is observed at the encoder. The proposed method could be a useful tool towards assessing the current conditions, and predicting reliability for improving the mobile robot maintenance policy, and for helping robot manufacturers to improve the design and operation of the system that they manufacture and operate.