A Modular Wheel System for Mobile Robot Applications

Introduces a modular all-in-one wheel system for combined steering/driving applied to service robots operating in indoor environments like homes, offices, or hospitals. The wheel system is based on standard tires, builds very compact, and provides a high pay load to dead load ratio. It is used as a building block to construct a wide variety of highly maneuverable mobile robots ranging from simple tricycles to fully holonomic locomotion platforms. Integration is simple, because each wheel system is equipped with the necessary control and communication infrastructure based on standard PC components.