State estimation and path following on curved and flat vertical surfaces with Omniclimber robots: Kinematics and control

Omnidirectional wheels used on Omniclimber inspection robot and in other robots enable a holonomic drive and a good maneuverability. On the other hand, they have a poor wheel traction and suffer from vertical and horizontal vibration, decreasing the trajectory following accuracy of the robot. In this study, we address this problem by integrating an orientation estimation and correction algorithm in the Omniclimber control by integration of an accelerometer. Moreover, since the Omniclimber chassis adapts to curved structures, the kinematics of the robot change when moving on a curved surface. We integrated an additional algorithm which corrects the robot´s kinematics based on the curvature diameter and the current robot orientation. By integrating these two algorithms we could make remarkable improvements on the path following accuracy of the Omniclimber on flat and curved structures.