Non-Levitative Electromagnet Robot Propulsion Method for 2-D Material Handling

Overview

Autonomous mobile robot (AMR) fleets are widely used in areas such as various large-volume material handling operations like sortation and 'lot size one' manufacturing due to their flexibility to enable seamless configurations of layouts and work. However, the cost of AMR fleets grows fast due to every single robot requiring complex onboard subsystems including navigation, communication, battery, locomotion, etc. Their productivity also goes down due to the required intensive computing, communication and avoidance planning as well as down time for the battery charging. The use of batteries is not environmentally friendly as well. My goal for this project is to develop a novel wheel-based non-levitative electromagnet robot propulsion method for robot fleet applications, so the robots themselves are passive, thereby removing redundant onboard subsystems, and improving system efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and reliability. In my project's design, the propulsion mechanism was designed to be through magnetic forces between magnets onboard the robots and the electromagnet grid underneath. I modelled the magnetic field and dynamics of the robot for use with a PD-based motion control algorithm as well as developed a Hall-effect sensor-based localization method. The viability of the propulsion method was demonstrated through the developed prototype and various tests, achieving stable control with a mean absolute tracking error of 3.2±0.77 mm, providing a new cost-effective, efficient, and flexible solution for various large-volume material handling operations in the future. This propulsion method can also extend beyond to other applications like assistive propulsion for cars on highways.

Competition history

• AJAS 2025 Category not listed

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