Remarks on the classification of wheeled mobile robots

Abstract. The subject of this work is modeling and classification of single-bodied wheeled mobile robots (WMRs). In the past, it was shown that the kinematics of each such robot can be modeled by one out of only five different generic models. However, the precise conditions under which a model is the proper description of the kinematic capabilities of a robot were not clear. These shortcomings are eliminated in this work, leading to a simple procedure for model selection. Additionally, a thorough analysis of the kinematic models and a classification of their singularities are presented.