Dynamics characterization of paquitop, a novel platform for robotized domestic applications

In the last decades, an unprecedented decrease in fertility and mortality rates in industrialized countries yielded a general ageing of the population. Such phenomenon affected the everyday life of individuals as well as organizations, either government or private, to the point that they are nowadays seeking the solution to the increasing demand of health care, housing, care-giving, and social security. In this scenario, this piece of research aims to fulfil a design task, specifically oriented towards the field of assistance machines. The functionalities which should be guaranteed are mainly two: to follow and monitor reduced mobility subjects, to maintain a constant view contact with its targets, and to accomplish such duties in a nonstructured and possibly peopled environment. In particular, the paper analyses the dynamics of Paquitop, a novel over-actuated mobile platform, aiming for a proper design strategy for its suspensions system. The main peculiarity of the robot is that of owning an innovative architecture expressly conceived to enhance the performance offered by the present-day solutions for omni-directional planar motions. Given its purpose, the robot architecture was thought for guaranteeing an effective fulfilment of its primary tasks. This arises a set of uncharted challenges, under both mechanical and control points of view.