Robot drive mechanism

One of the cost effective solution for mobile robot navigation is differential drive systems. It's one of the simplest drive mechanisms for a mobile robot that is mainly indented for indoor navigation. The differential drive robot consists of two wheels mounted on a common axis controlled by two separate motors. There are two supporting wheels called caster wheels. It ensures stability and weight distribution of the robot. The following diagram shows a typical differential drive system:

Differential drive system

The next step is to select the mechanical components of this robot drive system, that is, mainly motors, wheels, and robot chassis. Based on the requirements, we will first discuss how to select the motor.

Selection of motors and wheels

Motors are selected after looking at their specifications. Some of the important parameters for motor selection are torque and RPM. We can compute these values from the given requirements.

Calculation of RPM of motors

Assume...