Control and Efficiency Analysis of Multi-Motion of

Four Wheel Drive Omni-Directional Robot

Munim Matin Afridi Jamshaid Usman
Department of Mechatronics Engineering Department of Mechatronics Engineering
Wah Engineering College, University of Wah Wah Engineering College, University of Wah
Wah Cantt, Pakistan Wah Cantt, Pakistan
munim_matin@hotmail.com jamshaid.usman13@gmail.com

Abstract— To control an Omni-directional robot in multi-

motion, a detail analysis is done which includes study of the
Design and Kinematics of the robot leading to the motion
analysis done mathematically and then experimentally. This
research presented extends the pre-present research on the
control and motion of the Omni-directional robot by
presenting a unique motion methodology for higher efficiency.
The major focus of this paper lies in the control and efficiency
analysis and the results of the multi-motion analysis are
compared with other literatures of the same workspace
conditions. The motion of the robot is examined in two ways:
Linear and Circular. The core concept of the motion analysis
lies in the idea that the robot does not change its orientation
during motion, thus challenging the motion efficiency of
conventional and Omni-directional robots with higher
maneuverability through experimentally compiled results. The
results of these multi-motions are also compared with each
other to get a better efficiency of Omni-directional robot. The
Fig. 1. The Four-Wheel Drive Omni-Directional Robot Prototype built for
research also addresses the issue of the Jacobian being non-
this research.
square for inverse kinematics. The inverse kinematics is solved
through Moore-Penrose pseudo inverse method, yielding to
The motion and control analysis done in this paper exhibited
accurate results experimentally.
higher efficiency and accuracy as compared to the results of
Keywords— Kinematics, Modeling, Omni-directional Robot, [3] in which a 4WD Omni-robot was used to traced a path.
Omni Wheels, Four Wheel Drive. Furthermore, the efficiency analysis done in [4] in both
linear and circular motion on a 4WD Omni-directional robot
I. INTRODUCTION yielded results that were less efficient as compared to the
results presented in this paper. Reference [4] traced the
O mni-directional robots are considered to be of high
importance due to their increased mobility during
multi-motion at multiple angles [1]. Omni-directional
motion to analyze the errors in motion. Reference [5] gave
an insight on the control of 3WD Omni robot using Omni
wheels and with low efficiency of motion in open area
robots generally have more complexity in path planning
search. Also, the results presented in [6] were put in contrast
than conventional mobile robots but they also have higher
to the results taken out in this paper as it also had a similar
efficiency [2]. Omni-directional robots have gained traction
4WD Omni-directional robot. The results calculated in this
in the industrial world due to its high maneuverability [3].
paper were also more efficient than the ones in [6].
Fig. 1 shows the four wheel drive (4WD) prototype built
Furthermore, the average error found in the motion of the
for the multi-motion analysis and path planning that had
Omni-directional robot in [7] was compared to the errors
Omni Wheels mounted on it. The path that the Omni-
found in research for this paper. All of these literature
directional robot created and followed was linear and
reviews were compared to the design in this paper and the
circular. The motion of the robot was done without changing
efficiency was put into contrast to find that the robot
its orientation and that had been the core fundamental of the
designed in this paper was far efficient in motion. This
motion in this research. Initially, the mathematical analysis
paper exhibits higher efficiency using Omni-wheels by
of the robot was done after designing. Therefore, the
incorporating a 4WD and a unique methodology.
kinematic analysis of the 4WD Omni-directional robot was
drafted with the solution of the forward kinematics through
a simpler method and the inverse through a unique method.
In case of solution of inverse kinematics, the unique method
was taken to tackle the non-square Jacobian matrix for the
4WD Omni-directional robot which is not generally
addressed in many literatures involving kinematics of
mobile robots.

Fig. 2. Omni Wheel [8]

78-1-7281-3058-3/19/$31.00 © 2019 IEEE

Furthermore, it has also compared the efficiencies of both 1. Dimensions:
motions with each other. Each wheel of the Omni- The robot had a length and width of 12 inch by 12 inch with
directional robot requires a separate velocity for its motion the laser cut curve of 6 inch radius on each side as shown in
towards any point and it has done that in this research Fig. 1 and a height of 8 inch.
without changing its orientation [7]. The velocity analysis 2. Weight:
has been done using forward and inverse kinematics. After The robot hardware after including all the components as
the designing, kinematics and methodology construction, the listed in Table 1 weighed 2.1034 kg.
robot underwent efficiency analysis through several
B. Components of Omni-directional Robot
experiments with results put in contrast to researches of the
similar field in same environment. The robot prototype was made with multiple features and
for that, certain sets of components were attached for a
II. DESIGN ANALYSIS number of tests. Fig. 3 describes the connections of the
components of the robot whereas Table 1 provides the
The Four wheel drive Omni-directional Robot was details of those components used.
designed to undergo number of experimental multi-motion
tests. A design of the prototype was made as shown in Fig. TABLE I. ROBOT COMPONENTS
3. The controller of the robot was connected with all the
components and this controller was the brain of the whole Name Quantity Description
Omni Wheels 4 3cm Radius; 10 Rubber
system. The PIC18F4431 microcontroller is capable of
Rollers.
generating 6 independent PWMs and has 40 Ports for
Bluetooth Module 1 HC-06 Module; 20m Range;
connection with the stepper motor driver and other For sending coordinates and
components [9]. The whole system was made wireless with radius to the robot.
coordinates sent in case of linear motion and radius sent in Battery 1 Lithium Ion Polymer Battery;
case of circular motion through Bluetooth module. Four Rechargeable.
independent stepper motors are controlled through stepper Voltage 1 Regulate voltage for
motor drivers that were connected to the microcontroller for Regulator Microcontroller.
controlling the direction of rotation and speed through PWM Robot Hardware 1 Plexi material; 5mm thick;
[10]. The power distribution board provided 5 Volts to the Laser cut.
microcontroller, the Bluetooth module and the Gyroscope. Microcontroller 1 PIC18 microcontroller.
Whereas, 12 Volts to the stepper motors was given for
motion. The four independent stepper motors had separate Stepper Motors 4 NEMA 17 High Precision
velocities according to the kinematic analysis done in the Bipolar Stepper Motor
Mathematical Modeling section of the paper. The velocities Stepper Motor Driver 4 A4988 Stepper Bipolar
of the wheels varied with respect to the point of destination. Stepper Motor Driver
The Gyroscope was used to track the motion of the robot by 8” wire 1 Red, White and Black color;
storing the data taken as feedback when motion is done. The Connection Purposes
stored data is displayed to provide efficiency analysis. Gyroscope 1 MPU 6050, For tracking the
motion of the robot
A. Robot Structure Specifics
The 4WD Omni-directional robot was designed to have four III. MATHEMATICAL MODELING
wheels perpendicular to each other. Fig. 4 shows the model To understand the operation of Omni-directional robot,
of the 4WD Omni-directional robot where the wheel the kinematics behind the drive system must be derived.
positions are defined, whereas Fig. 3 shows the design of the Through the model presented in the Fig. 4, this paper
prototype made with components attached. derived both the forward and inverse kinematics of 4WD
Omni-directional robot which provided multi-motion
controllability.
A. Forward Kinematics
The forward kinematics describes the velocity of the
Omni-directional robot as provided in [11]. The
relationship between the wheel velocities (V1, V2, V3, V4)
and robot velocities (Vx,Vy,Vw) of a four wheel Omni
directional robot is taken out from the Fig. 4 and it
features wheels at 90o from each other. Equation (2)
contains the X component of Velocity and (4) contains the
Y component of Velocity of the robot.
   
  
Fig. 3. Design of the prototype of 4WD Omni Robot √ √ √ √
     
     
 √ √ √ √
     
 [ ] [ ] [ ] 

Where;
A-1 = Inverse of Matrix A.
AT = Transpose of Matrix A.
Therefore, from (10), the individual wheel velocities and the
direction of motion were given.

IV. PARAMETER ESTIMATION

The parameter estimations taken are to relate to the
results presented further on. These parameter values
presented were pre-defined and some were calculated
according to the needs of the robot while designing.
A. Wheel Parameters
Fig. 4. Kinematic Model of 4WD Omni-Directional Robot [11] The Omni wheel as shown in Fig. 2 had a radius of 3cm. It
had 10 rubber rollers attached on its circumference to give
Where; further mobility and extra degree of freedom for
Velocity of Wheel ( ). movement. The frame of the wheel is of Aluminum and
X component of velocity of robot. two frames have been joined together through bolts to
Y component of velocity of robot. make one complete wheel with a thickness of 2.5cm.

The rotational velocity of the robot in (5) is taken out with B. Workspace Parameters
respect to the direction of rotation of each wheel when in The experiments were conducted on a workspace that was
any particular motion. Equation (6) is the Robot’s velocity confined to a certain set of coordinates. A 100cm by
matrix or forward kinematics equation [11]. 100cm workspace was set for the robot with 4 circles of
   radius 10cm, 20cm, 30cm and 40cm to trace the circular
motion. The workspace was marked to get an accurate
√ √ √ √ reading of the experimental data for both Linear and
Circular motion of the robot. The workspace material was
 [ ] √ √ √ √ [ ] 
made of polyester fabric to indicate a smooth lab floor in
[ ] the testing area. The workspace area was not in an open
terrain environment and was limited to the inside of the
B. Inverse Kinematics
testing lab replicating the workspace of [3], [4], [5], [6]
The inverse kinematics of the 4WD Omni-directional robot and [7] for better efficiency analysis.
is generally not addressed in many literatures due to the
Jacobian being non-square. The method presented here
solves (6) to get inverse of Jacobian matrix for inverse
kinematic equation. Equation (6) contains the Jacobian
matrix that is stated in (7).
√ √ √ √

  √ √ √ √  

[ ]
Where;
A = Jacobian Matrix.
Moore-Penrose Pseudo inverse Method was used to find the
inverse of (7) which was non-square [11]. The formula for
Moore-Penrose Pseudo inverse is stated in (8) [12].
Furthermore, (9) states the inverse of the Jacobian in (7).
  

Fig. 5. Workspace for Experimental Analysis

 [ ] 
 C. Motor Specifications
NEMA 17 Bipolar Stepper Motor was used for motion of
the robot and was connected to a Stepper Motor driver to
control the speed and steps the motor had [13].
TABLE II. NEMA 17 STEPPER MOTOR SPECIFICATIONS [13]
Specification Detail
Degree per Step o A.
Steps per Revolution
Phase Current
Holding Torque
Detent Torque
2
Rotor Inertia
Weight
V. METHODOLOGY
The methods for the motion planning of linear and circular
motion of the robot were unique in a way that they
calculated the initial position of the robot with respect to the
final destination by converting the distance to the number of
steps that high precision stepper motor took and that
distance was calculated into steps for each motor separately
as the robot did not change its orientation. The wheels
changed speed according to the velocity analysis of the
robot to reach any destination in a straight line. The velocity
of the wheels was varied through the PWM module of the
microcontroller. The initial point was taken at any corner of
the workspace in linear motion and in any quadrant in case
of circular motion as described in Fig. 5. In case of the
circular motion, the starting point could be anything because
the robot would trace a circle and come back to the initial
position after completing the circle. For the ease of tracing
the motion of the robot, a feedback gyro sensor was
configured with the controller. In Fig. 9 (b), a circle of
radius 30cm is being made which was taken in comparison
with the circle drawn in the workspace. In Fig. 9(a) and (b),
the numbers written in the circles of workspace are
diameters of the circles printed.
Initially, the power supply was turned on and the Omni-
directional robot was put into the starting position. The HC-
06 Bluetooth Module was paired with the android phone for
sending of commands [14]. The data received was used to
calculate the distance that the robot had to travel. One step
the NEMA 17 stepper motor used is of 1.8 o and each step
covers 0.0942cm.
Fig. 6. Linear motion path of Omni-directional Robot in multiple
experimental cases
There are a total of 200 steps per revolution. In order to
move a certain distance by the wheel, the distance to cover
is converted into motor steps for every wheel. The
microcontroller captured the goal coordinates and goal
radius from the Bluetooth module and converted it into steps
for each motors depending on the quadrant in which the
motion is to be made.
Linear Motion
For linear motion, the robot travelled in a straight line
directly to the destination point sent wirelessly. The
captured coordinates were converted into steps for each
motor. Initially, the X and Y coordinates sent, identified the
quadrant of the destination point and the speed and steps
taken per motor to reach the goal point were derived by the
controller.
  
Equation (11) gives the steps on of the motor will take by
dividing the distance to cover to the distance one step takes.
Fig. 6 shows number of linear motions the robot made
during experimental analysis. The robot was capable of
moving into any point in 2D plane directly in a straight line.
The feedback system, which includes the gyroscope, tracked
the motion of the robot and provided an estimate on how
many steps each motor has to take in order to reach the
destination without changing orientation.
B. Circular Motion
The circular motion of the Omni-directional robot was much
more complex and for that a 4 quadrant method to obtain the
motion was done by calculating the trajectory in 4 quadrants
till completion. The robot received the radius that it had to
follow through the Bluetooth Module and created a path for
it to follow using (12). The algorithm of the circular motion
included the use of equation of circle to plot small points
and each next point was a destination point until the circle
was complete by going through each quadrant.
  
Where;
Radius
Destination X coordinate
Destination Y coordinate
Current X coordinate
Current Y coordinate
Destination points of each quadrant were calculated through
the equation of circle for accurate motion in this unique
methodology. The wheels were moving at separate
velocities just as in linear motion but here the trajectory of
motion was curved and the robot followed a circular path.
Every point in the trajectory was broken down into steps
before motion by the robot. The robot in motion after
successfully completing the trajectory of one out of fourth
part of the circle went on to complete the next three curves.
In all of these motions, the robot did not change its
orientation thus exhibiting high maneuverability. Fig. 7 in
addition to Fig. 9 (a) and (b) gives a clear analysis of the
motion of robot.
 Fig. 9(a). Initial Point of Circular Motion under Testing
Fig. 7. Path of 4WD Omni-directional robot in circular motion

VI. EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

The 4WD Omni-directional robot underwent a number of
experimental tests for calculating the efficiency in the linear
and circular motion. The methodology of linear and circular
motion was implemented on the controller and a series of
tests in both motions were conducted. Fig. 8 (a) and (b)
shows the starting point (0,0) and destination point
(50cm,40cm) of linear motion in one case respectively.
Similar other experiments of the linear motion were done
and an error analysis was done. The line as shown in Fig. 10 Fig. 9(b). Circular Motion Testing underway
was traced after the linear movement of the robot in one
case.
Fig. 9 (a) and (b) shows the initial point and midway motion
of the Omni-directional robot respectively for circular
motion of 30cm radius (60cm diameter). The robot made a
full circle of any radius which was sent wirelessly. The
experiments were conducted on the workspace with pre-
present circles for better calculation of the errors. The circle
as shown in Fig. 11, was traced after the four quadrants
methodology was followed.

Fig. 10. Line traced by robot

Fig. 8(a). Initial point of Linear Motion under Testing

Fig. 11. Circle traced by robot

The results for the series of tests conducted for both the
linear and circular motion are shown in Table 3 and 4. The
motions showed higher efficiency when compared with the
results of the previous researches in similar workspace
conditions. The linear motion came out be 97.39% efficient
in X-axis and 97.64% efficient in Y-axis with an overall
efficiency of about 97.52% in motion. The average error
was 1.5cm.
In circular motion, the efficiency analysis was done in each
Fig. 8(b). Destination Point of Linear Motion under Testing
quadrant by comparing the expected motion of the robot to
the traced experimental result. The average error was
determined to be 2.5cm. The circular path motion came out when compared with other literatures stated. Furthermore,
to be 91.61 % efficient in X-axis and 93.15 % efficient in Y- the motor parameters played a vital role in the efficiency of
axis. Through the different number of tests conducted, the the robot. The NEMA 17 Stepper motor had high precision
circular motion was overall 92.37% efficient, which is far step taking which was quite evident from the results of the
better than other circular motion results of the previous experiments. The design analyzed and created was efficient
researches mentioned. to an extent that accurate such readings were noted. In
addition to the designing and efficiency analysis of the
TABLE III. RESULTS OF LINEAR MOTION robot, we derived the inverse kinematics of the robot
Covered through Moore Penrose Pseudo Inverse Method to counter
Goal Coordinates
Test
(cm)
Coordinates Efficiency (%) the non-square Jacobian. Finally, from the results it was
No. (cm) evident that linear motion was more efficient than circular
XG YG XC YC XE YE
motion.
1 60 60 58.3 58.4 97.16% 97.33%
2 50 40 48.8 39.1 97.6% 97.75%
3 -60 -90 58.5 87.7 97.5% 97.44% IX. REFERENCES
4 0 120 0 117.2 - 97.67% [1] Hamid Taheri, Bing Qiao and N. Ghaeminezhad, “Kinematic Model
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Average Efficiency 97.39% 97.64% Computer Applications, Volume 113, No. 3, March 2015.
a. For all tests, initial coordinates were (0, 0). [2] Florentina Adăscăliţei and Ioan Doroftei , “Practical Applications For
Where; Mobile Robots Based On Mecanum Wheels - A Systematic Survey”,
(XG, YG) = Goal coordinates. Research Gate, January 2011.
(XC, YC) = Covered coordinates. [3] Jun Qian, Bin Zi, D. Wang, Y. Ma and D. Zhang, “The Design and
Development of an Omni-Directional Mobile Robot Oriented to an
(XE, YE) = Efficiency in X and Y axis. Intelligent Manufacturing System”, Sensors Open Access Journal
MDPI, September 2017.
TABLE IV. RESULTS OF CIRCULAR MOTION [4] J. Chen, J Wang, Y Yang, Q, Xiao, “A Motion Control Method Of
Four-Wheel Drive Omni-Directional Mobile Robots Based On Multi
Goal Radius Distance to Cover Points Preview Control”, Journal of Theoretical and Applied
Test Efficiency (%)
(cm) (cm) Information Technology, Vol. 45, No.1, November 2012.
No.
RG C XE YE [5] A. Salam Al-Ammri and Iman Ahmed, “Control of Omni-directional
1 10 62.81 89% 96% Mobile Robot Motion”, Al-Khwarizmi Journal, Vol. 6, No. 04, 2010.
2 20 125.66 91.5% 95.2% [6] L. Huang, Y. S. Lim, David Li and C. E. L. Teoch, “Design and
3 30 188.5 92.67% 90.67% Analysis of a Four-wheel Omni-directional Mobile Robot”, 2nd
4 35 220 91.15% 90.15% International Conference on autonomous Robots and Agents,
December 2004.
5 40 251.3 90.75% 93.75%
Average Efficiency 91.61% 93.15% [7] C. Wang, X. Liu, X. Yang, F. Hu, A. Jiang and C. Yang, “Trajectory
Tracking of an Omni-Directional Wheeled Mobile Robot Using a
Where; Model Perspective Control Strategy”, MDPI Applied Sciences,
RG = Goal radius. February, 2018.
C = Circumference or the Distance for the robot to cover. [8] Omni Wheel, Link: https://www.robotshop.com/en/60mm-aluminum-
(XE, YE) = Efficiency in X and Y axis. omni-wheel.html
[9] Microchip, “PIC18F4431 Data sheet”, Microchip Technology Inc.,
2006.Link:http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/devicedoc/39616
VII. DISCUSSION b.pdf
The experimental analysis was done on similar workspace [10] Schneider Electric Motion USA, NEMA 17 Motor and Encoder Data
Sheet”. Link: https://motion.schneider-
conditions like in [3], [4], [5], [6] and [7]. The motion was electric.com/downloads/quickreference/NEMA17.pdf
traced and the average error was taken out and compared to [11] Munim Matin Afridi, “Modeling and Design of Three and Four-
the other literatures. Table 5 shows the error comparison. Wheel Omni-directional robot”, International Journal of Computer
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Chapter 16, 1995, pp. 198-203.
[13] Pololu, “Single Bipolar Stepper Motor Driver A4988 Data Sheet”,
TABLE V. ERROR COMPARISONS Link: https://www.robotshop.com/media/files/pdf/datasheet-1182.pdf
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Paper Error (cm) Error (cm) Information Technology Co., Ltd, 2006.
Current Paper 1.5 2.2
Reference [3] 2.7 -
Reference [4] 3.1 7.4
Reference [5] 2.9 3
Reference [6] - 6
Reference [7] 8 8

VIII. CONCLUSION
This paper presented the efficiency for both linear and
circular motion for the four-wheel drive Omni-directional
robot using Omni wheels. Initially, the robot was designed
and all the required parameters were found for experimental
analysis. The efficiency in linear motion was 97.52% and in
circular motion was 92.37%, with the least error in motion