Robotic platform and assembly
AssigneeFacebook Technologies, LLC
InventorScott C. Wiley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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.
Claims20
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.
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.
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.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.