Robotic platform and assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10207403-B1
Application number	US-201715828414-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Nov 30, 2017
Priority date	Nov 30, 2017
Publication date	Feb 19, 2019
Grant date	Feb 19, 2019

Abstract

A robotic platform may include a chassis, a drive assembly, and a pair of fore and aft wheel assemblies. The drive assembly may include a motor and belt that is controlled by the motor. The wheel assemblies may each include a wheel mounted to an axle for rotation about a drive axis and steering about a steering axis, and a shaft. The shaft may extend along the steering axis from one end that is connected to the axle, to another end that is wrapped by the belt, such that the belt controls rotation of the shaft. Various other assemblies, robots, and methods are also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A robotic platform, comprising:
a chassis having oppositely disposed top and bottom sides, a fore end and an aft end;
a drive assembly arranged on the chassis, the drive assembly comprising a drive motor and a drive belt that is controlled by the drive motor; and
a pair of fore wheel assemblies disposed on the fore end of the chassis and a pair of aft wheel assemblies disposed on the aft end of the chassis, each of the fore and aft wheel assemblies comprising:
a caster wheel mounted to an axle for rotation about a drive axis and steering about a substantially vertical steering axis, and
a drive shaft extending along the steering axis from a first drive shaft end to a second drive shaft end, the first drive shaft end being connected to the axle and the second drive shaft end being wrapped by the drive belt such that the drive belt controls rotation of the drive shaft about the steering axis.

2. The robotic platform of claim 1 , wherein the drive belt is wrapped around the drive shafts of the fore and aft wheel assemblies such that the drive shafts of each of the fore and aft wheel assemblies rotate synchronously.

3. The robotic platform of claim 1 , wherein the drive axis and the steering axis together form an oblique angle such that the caster wheel is tilted relative to the drive shaft.

4. The robotic platform of claim 1 , wherein the second drive shaft end and the drive belt are disposed at the top side of the chassis.

5. The robotic platform of claim 1 , further comprising:
a steer assembly disposed on the chassis, the steer assembly comprising a steer motor and a steer belt that is controlled by the steer motor; and
for each fore and aft wheel assembly, a steer shaft extending longitudinally along the steering axis from a first steer shaft end to a second steer shaft end, the first steer shaft end being connected to the axle and the second steer shaft end being wrapped by the steer belt such that the steer assembly controls rotation of the steer shaft about the steering axis, which thereby steers the caster wheel about the steering axis.

6. The robotic platform of claim 5 , wherein the steer belt is wrapped around the steer shafts of the fore and aft wheel assemblies such that the steer shafts of each of the fore and aft wheel assemblies rotate synchronously.

7. The robotic platform of claim 5 , wherein the drive shaft is concentrically arranged inside of the steer shaft.

8. The robotic platform of claim 1 , further comprising a brake arranged on the second drive shaft end and configured to retard motion of the drive shaft to thereby retard motion of the caster wheel.

9. The robotic platform of claim 8 , wherein the brake comprises a disc brake, the disc brake comprising:
a disc arranged on the drive shaft and configured to rotate with the drive shaft about the steering axis, and
a pair of pads on top and bottom sides of the disc, wherein the pads are compressible against the disc to retard rotation of the disc, and thereby retard rotation of the drive shaft.

10. The robotic platform of claim 9 , further comprising a controller for controlling the drive motor and the disc brake.

11. The robotic platform of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the fore and aft wheel assemblies comprises a bevel gear connecting the first drive shaft end to the axle.

12. The robotic platform of claim 11 , wherein the bevel gear is configured such that the caster wheel is tilted relative to the steering axis and the caster wheel is steerable about the steering axis at a single point of rotation.

13. The robotic platform of claim 1 , wherein the caster wheel is configured to freely rotate 360 degrees about the steering axis.

14. The robotic platform of claim 1 , wherein the caster wheel comprises a propeller that converts rotational movement into thrust.

15. The robotic platform of claim 1 , further comprising a data-center robot mounted to the robotic platform and configured to service one or more data center modules.

16. A robotic platform, comprising:
a chassis having oppositely disposed top and bottom sides, and a fore end and an aft end;
a drive assembly disposed on the chassis, the drive assembly comprising a drive motor and a drive belt that is controlled by the drive motor;
a steer assembly disposed on the chassis, the steer assembly comprising a steer motor and a steer belt that is controlled by the steer motor; and
at least one fore wheel assembly disposed on the fore end of the chassis and at least one aft wheel assembly disposed on the aft end of the chassis, each of the fore and aft wheel assemblies comprising:
a caster wheel mounted to an axle for rotation about a drive axis and steering about a substantially vertical steering axis,
a drive shaft extending along the steering axis from a first drive shaft end to a second drive shaft end, the first drive shaft end being connected to the axle and the second drive shaft end being wrapped by the drive belt such that the drive belt controls rotation of the drive shaft about the steering axis to drive the robotic platform in a substantially horizontal direction, and
a steer shaft extending along the steering axis from a first steer shaft end to a second steer shaft end, the first steer shaft end being connected to the axle and the second steer shaft end being wrapped by the steer belt such that the steer belt controls rotation of the steer shaft about the steering axis, which thereby steers the caster wheel about the vertical axis.

17. The robotic platform of claim 16 , wherein the drive shaft is concentrically arranged inside of the steer shaft.

18. The robotic platform of claim 17 , further comprising a brake arranged on the second drive shaft end and configured to retard motion of the drive shaft to thereby retard motion of the caster wheel.

19. A method of assembling a robotic platform, the method comprising:
arranging a drive assembly on a chassis, the drive assembly comprising a drive motor and a drive belt that is controlled by the drive motor;
assembling a pair of fore wheel assemblies and a pair of aft wheel assemblies, wherein assembling each of the fore and aft wheel assemblies comprises:
mounting a caster wheel to a respective axle for rotation about a drive axis and steering about a substantially vertical steering axis, and
connecting a drive shaft to the axle with a bevel gear, the drive shaft extending from a first drive shaft end to a second drive shaft end;

mounting each fore wheel assembly to a fore end of the chassis and each aft wheel assembly to an aft end of the chassis; and
wrapping the drive belt around each drive shaft such that the drive belt controls rotation of the drive shaft about the steering axis.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein:
assembling each of the fore and aft wheel assemblies further comprises connecting a first steer shaft end of a steer shaft to the axle, the steer shaft extending along the steering axis from the first steer shalt end to a second steer shaft end; and
the method further comprises:
arranging a steering assembly on the chassis, the steering assembly comprising a steer motor and a steer belt that is controlled by the steer motor; and
wrapping the steer belt around each steer shaft such that the steer assembly controls rotation of the steer shaft about the steering axis, which thereby steers the caster wheel about the steering axis.

Assignees

• Facebook Inc
• Facebook Tech Llc

Inventors

• Wiley Scott C

Classifications

• B25J9/162 Primary

  Mobile manipulator, movable base with manipulator arm mounted on it · CPC title

• B25J9/1602

  characterised by the control system, structure, architecture · CPC title

• B25J9/0084

  comprising a plurality of manipulators · CPC title

• B25J5/007 Primary

  mounted on wheels · CPC title

• B25J5/005

  mounted on endless tracks or belts · CPC title