# A Mobile Robot with Omnidirectional Tracks--Design and Experimental Research
###### Abstract  
This article deals with the design and testing of mobile robots equipped with drive systems based on omnidirectional tracks. These are new mobile systems that combine the advantages of a typical track drive with the advantages of systems equipped with omnidirectional Mecanum wheels. The omnidirectional tracks allow the robot to move in any direction without having to change the orientation of its body. The mobile robot market (automated construction machinery, mobile handle robots, mobile platforms, etc.) constantly calls for improvements in the manoeuvrability of vehicles. Omnidirectional drive technology can meet such requirements. The main aim of the work is to create a mobile robot that is capable of omnidirectional movement over different terrains, and also to conduct an experimental study of the robot's operation. The paper presents the construction and principles of operation of a small robot equipped with omnidirectional tracks. The robot's construction and control system, and also a prototype made with FDM technology, are described. The trajectory parameters of the robot's operation along the main and transverse axes were measured on a test stand equipped with a vision-based measurement system. The results of the experimental research became the basis for the development and experimental verification of a static method of correcting deviations in movement trajectory. omnivehicle; omnitracks; Mecanum rollers; FDM +
Footnote †: journal: Applied Sciences  
18 November 2021  
17 December 2021  
**Publisher's Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. **  
**Published: 11 December 2021**  
during dynamic stepping in unknown terrain) [9]. In recent years, research on improving the movement speed of stepping robots has been conducted [10; 11]. Tracked robots can be classified as a compromise between wheeled and stepping robots. Tracks allow for the mobility of the robot in difficult terrain, while also helping them to maintain a satisfactory movement speed. This type of locomotion has been recognised, investigated and used to a significantly higher degree than stepping systems [12]. Ball-balancing robots, also called ballbots, are robots in which the wheelset system is a ball [13]. This locomotion type, apart from ensuring holonomic control, is a successful solution in robot locomotion that is used to demonstrate technology, and in toys or presentation robots. It is visually attractive. The ballbot group also encompasses robots with a spherical outer casing, or a casing resembling a spherical shape [14; 15]. Due to such a construction, these robots can not only achieve a high speed, but can also overcome water obstacles in difficult terrain. Mobile robotics is now at the stage of dynamic development, where it quickly adapts to novel technological solutions while maintaining some previously used ones. Various simple solutions are successfully used in modern applications. Paper [16] addresses the issues of the hybridization of animals and machines, as well as the use of robots for research on animals. Many of their functions, such as the movement of a mechanical fish, are performed by simple mechanical systems. Paper [17] describes the construction of a mobile robot, in which the stepping movements of 4 legs are produced by a single drive. An example use of an existing and well-investigated solution can be seen in Mecanum wheel systems. They were patented in 1972 by Swedish engineer [PERSON] [18]. The wheels, due to top free rotation rollers oriented at 45\({}^{\circ}\) on the wheel circumference, as well as appropriate steering, allow vehicles to move in any direction on a flat surface [19] (Figure 1).