2017 14th International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence (URAI)

June 28 - July 1, 2017 at Maison Glad Jeju, Jeju, Korea

Simulation of Design Conditions of

Logistics Robot Transferring Heavy Load
Seung Young Yang1, Yeon Gil Kim1 Young-Jae Ryoo2 and Kyung Seok Byun*
1,*
Department of Mecanical Engineering, Mokpo National University, Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do, South Korea
(Tel : +82-61-454-4226,450-2418; E-mail: {ysy0417,hosu005,ksbyun}@mokpo.ac.kr)
2
Department of Control Engineering and Robotics, Mokpo National University, Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do, South Korea
(Tel : +82-61-450-2754; E-mail: yjryoo@mokpo.ac.kr)
* Corresponding Author

Abstract – As the importance of logistics automation 2. Analysis of Design Conditions of Logistics

system has increased, researches on related fields such as Robot Transferring Heavy Load
logistics transportation, city logistics, automation,
efficiency, environment friendly technology and In this paper, the design conditions of the logistics robot
unmanned technology have been actively carried out. In that transports the heavy object are the wheel drive system,
order to promote such logistics automation, a huge amount and two drive wheels and two caster wheels are used. The
of facilities are invested. Therefore, careful examination of free body diagram is shown in Fig. 2.
the system is required to build a logistics automation
system. In this paper, the design conditions of the logistics
robot that transports heavy objects are studied. The design
conditions of the logistics robot are derived based on the
parallel equations and conduction conditions. The validity
of the design conditions was verified through simulation
based on 3D modeling and modeling.

Keywords - Unmanned robot, Design condition, Logistics

Automation System, Simulation, optimal design. Fig. 1. The parameters of a logistics robot and a cart.

Table 1. The parameters of a logistics robot and a cart

1. Introduction

As the demand of the logistics market has increased ݉௥ The mass of the robot
recently, a fast and accurate logistics automation system is ݉௖ The mass of the cart
needed. ݉௟ Profit load
In recent years, many logistics companies in Korea
have introduced many logistics automation systems to  Acceleration of robot
maximize profits and increase efficiency. ݀௥ The distance between the axes of the robot
As the interest and necessity of logistics technology wheels
increases, studies on related fields such as logistics ݀௖ Cart's radius
transportation, city logistics, automation, efficiency,
 Motor torque
environment friendly technology and unmanned
technology are actively being carried out. [1][2]  The radius of the robot wheel
Logistics automation system has a great influence on ȧ Coefficient of friction of robot wheel
quality improvement and productivity improvement.
 Robot and cart holding position
While the logistics automation system can contribute
to the enhancement of the competitiveness of the company,
there are difficulties such as a lot of time and enormous
facility investment cost for the automation of the logistics.
Therefore, in order to build a logistics automation
system, we have to approach carefully to maximize the
effect.
In this paper, the optimum design conditions of the
logistics robot such as the motor selection and the holding
position of the logistics robot that transports heavy objects
during system construction are studied.[3][4]

Fig. 2. Free body diagram

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෍ ‫ܯ‬஺ ൌ ܲ௠ ݄ െ ሺ݉௥ ൅ ݉௟ ሻ‰݀௥ ൅ ܴ஻ ݀௥ ൌ Ͳሺͳሻ The design used Inventor, a 3D design tool from
Autodesk. A logistics robot and a cart are modeled as rigid
bodies.
It is assumed that the center of gravity of the logistics
robot is located at the center of the robot.
The load of the robot in the stationary state acts only on
ܴ஻ . Equation (1) can be derived using a parallel equation
From Equation (1), it is possible to derive an equation
such as Equation (2) for ܴ஻ .

ܲ௠ ݄
ܴ஻ ൌ ሺ݉௥ ൅ ݉௟ ሻ݃ െ ሺʹሻ
݀௥

In order for the logistics robot to transport the cart, the

frictional force acting between the drive wheel and the
ground must be greater than the minimum force ܲ௠
required for the cart to travel.
Therefore, the following equation (3) can be obtained.
Fig. 3. Simulation model for logistics robot
‫ܨ‬௙ ൌ ߤܰ ൌ ߤܴ஻ ൐ ሺ݉௥ ൅ ݉௖ ሻܽሺ͵ሻ

Equations (4) and (5) for acceleration and holding

position can be derived using the following equation (3).

݀௥
݄ ൏ ሺߤሺ݉௥ ൅ ݉௟ ሻ݃ െ ሺ݉௥ ൅ ݉௖ ሻܽሻ ሺͶሻ
ܲ௠

ͳ ܲ௠ ݄ ͳ
ܽ ൏ ߤሺ݉௥ ൅ ݉௟ ሻ݃ െ ሺͷሻ
ሺ݉௥ ൅ ݉௖ ሻ ݀௥ ሺ݉௥ ൅ ݉௖ ሻ

The total torque of the motor of the mobile robot must

be greater than the minimum force ܲ௠ required when the
cart moves Since the number of actuators of the logistics
robot is two, equation (6) can be obtained Fig. 4. Simulation model for cart

ሺ݉௥ ൅ ݉௖ ሻܽ 4. Simulation
ܶ൐ ሺ͸ሻ
ʹ
The simulation method is a method of transporting the
In order to prevent the moving cart from being cart by accelerating the logistics robot. The simulation was
conducted, the following equation (7) must be satisfied. carried out using RecurDyn, a multibody dynamics
When the force component in the gravity direction analysis program of FunctionBay.
becomes smaller than the force in the acceleration We designed a model.1 that does not fit the model.2 that
direction, the card is conducted. matches the equations (8) and (9). Each simulation was
The following equations (8) and (9) can be derived. conducted to verify the validity of the design conditions of
the logistics robot that transfers heavy objects.
ƒ ‫ ‰ ׷‬ൌ ݀௖ ‫݈ ׷‬ሺ͹ሻ The model.1 is a model that meets design conditions.
The variable acceleration is ͲǤͳȀ‫ ݏ‬ଶ .
݃݀௖ Fig. 5 show the simulation results of the model.1, which
ƒ൏ ሺͺሻ meets the design conditions presented in this paper. It can
݈
be seen that it is safe for transport and conduction.
݈ܽ
݀௖ ൐ ሺͻሻ
݃

3. Simulation Model

The simulation model for verifying the design

conditions of the logistics robot that transports the heavy
objects presented in the previous section is shown in Fig.
4.

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 acceleration, clamping position, and cart width were
determined. In order to prove this, we verified the validity
of the range for each variable through simulation using 3D
modeling and analysis program. By this study, it is
possible to reduce the time and money damages between
productions of the logistics robot by reducing the trial and
error.

Acknowledgement
This research was financially supported by the Human
Resource Training Program for Regional Innovation and
Creativity through the Ministry of Education and National
Research Foundation of Korea
(NRF-2015H1C1A1035841).

References

[1] Se-Jun Park, Tae-Kyu Yang “A Study on Design of

Intelligent Mobile Robot based on Localization Sensor
for Unmanned Transport Logistics”‫ٻ‬Journal of KIIT.
Fig.5 Simulation of model.1
Vol. 11, No. 9, pp. 7-13, 2013. 09
The model.2 is a model that does not meet the design
[2] Dong-Hyuk Jeong, Jin-Il Park, Yong-Tae Kim “Study
conditions. The variable acceleration is ͸Ȁ‫ ݏ‬ଶ .
on Design of Mobile Robot for Autonomous Freight
Transportation” Journal of Korean Institute of
Intelligent Systems, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 202-207, 2013.
06

[3] Sang-bae Lee “Efficient Design and Construction Plan

of Automated Logistic System” Hanbat National
University master's thesis, 2008.11

[4] Jeong, Dong Hyuk “A Study on Design of

Autonomous Transportation Robot for Automation of
the Distribution Center” Hankyong National
University master's thesis, 2014.02

Fig.6 Simulation of model.2

Fig. 6 show the simulation results of the model.2, which

does not meet the design conditions proposed in this paper.
The difference between the cart speed and the logistics
robot speed shows the problem of the transfer.

5. Conclusion

In this study, the equations are derived from the parallel

equations and conduction conditions for the design
conditions of the logistics robot that transports heavy
objects. Based on the derived equations, the range of

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