Designing a simple, robust, precision robotic platform for medium quantity production

Abstract

A niche which has yet to be saturated in the growing market of educational and research robotic platforms is the mechanically-simple, electronically-powerful research robot. Useful in fields such as algorithm and artificial intelligence research, such a robot would support a variety of sensor configurations and run both precisely and autonomously. Such a robot requires a robust, simple, preassembled mechanical platform; an electronics system which easily accepts a variety of sensors; and user friendly computer interface. This paper follows the design of a drive system and chassis for such a robot. Although the prototype developed did not meet the specifications of $250-$500 selling price for five hundred units, data was gathered from the prototype which will allow for a more cost effective redesign.