NeWheel: self-contained, two-degree-of-freedom robot wheels
QUT 2019 Robotronica’s story on Troy Cordie, one of our PhD students completing his thesis in modular field robotics working on NeWheel.
Under the supervision of Dr Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay from CSIRO’s Data61 and QUT Professor Jonathan Roberts, Troy is working in modular field robotics, specifically the creation of bespoke robots that make working with robotics simpler – so you don’t need to be an engineer.
“The goal is to make robots more accessible and customisable.”
Image credit: QUT Robotronica
“The controller is told how fast the robot needs to move then works out how fast each of the wheels should move and gives those separate commands,” Troy said.
The key difference between a modular robot built by NeWheels and an all-wheel drive car is that each wheel has its own motor, says Troy.
“Also, we can change the shape and number of wheels. I’m yet to see a car that can do that”.
“The big advantage is that this allows us to create custom robots to fulfil existing tasks, or it allows us to create custom robots in the field”.
You can read the full story originally published by QUT Robotronica here.