Design of a Tri-Star Wheel Mechanism with High Obstacle Clearance

Overview

This paper explores the development and application of a tri -star wheel design for urban search and rescue (USAR) robots, addressing the critical need for a wheel mechanism able to navigate complex terrains as well as flat surfaces. While traditional wheel s have only one functionality, being its excellent ability to transport objects across flat surfaces, the tri -star wheel features a second functionality being its exceptional ability to overcome vertical obstacles. It holds a special geometry that allows the wheel to pivot at a lower point compared to the conventional wheel and reduce interference during the process simultaneously. This study includes a theoretical analysis of the tri-star wheel's mechanics and mathematical modeling to optimize the wheel’s parameters. Using this model, I built a prototype robot with tri-star wheels of d=120mm and r=47.5mm, which the model predicts can overcome a vertical obstacle of maximum 203mm. A SolidWorks motion simulation was performed, followed by experimentation using the actual robot to evaluate the true performance of the tri -star wheel in overcoming obstacles. The results from the simulation and experiment were fairly consistent with the mathematical model: I found that the star wheel can overcome vertical obstacles over 67% higher than what regular wheels can, around 38% higher in obstacles less than 90°, and 14% in obstacles greater than 90°. Despite being smaller than a regular wheel, my design of the star wheel is also able to sustain heavy payloads of up to 50k g, on par with regular wheels.

Competition history

• JSHS 2025 Category not listed

Resources

• National JSHS abstract book ↗

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