Metodologia para Avaliação de Mobilidade de Robôs Móveis Terrestres

Abstract

Mobile robots are becoming essential tools for exploring environments that represents risks to human beings. The uneven ground and the presence of obstacles increase the difficulty of free movement and compromise the robot’s autonomy. Researchers are developing several devices with different configurations and locomotion mechanisms to overcome these challenges. An example is EspeleoRobô, a robotic platform designed for inspection and exploration of confined environments that has a system for switching between locomotion modes. Thus, this article focuses on presenting a methodology for analyzing the mobility of robotic platforms. For comparison purposes, we chose two other robots available on the market: the Husky A200 and the Pioneer 3-AT. The methodology includes metrics to measure performance in terms of the ability to overcome obstacles, stability and energy efficiency. The results allow comparing devices and their locomotion mechanisms, indicating the advantages, disadvantages and in which environment each one stood out. We validated the algorithms in a simulation environment by conducting experiments in scenarios built in the CoppeliaSim simulator with integration to the Robot Operating System (ROS).