Development of Multi-floor Service Robot Equipped With Robotic Arm and Four-wheel Steering System

This paper introduces a multi-floor service robot designed to perform functions such as transporting goods between floors. The two main features of this robot are its independent steering system and a 2-DOF robot arm for operating elevator buttons. Unlike conventional robots, which depend on communication with an elevator server for inter-floor navigation, the proposed robot autonomously presses elevator buttons using its robotic arm. The four-wheel independent steering system supports omnidirectional movement, enabling a small turning radius for smooth navigation in tight spaces, including inside elevators. Furthermore, this steering system enhances the mobility of the simple 2-DOF robot arm, allowing for more versatile operation. Elevator buttons are recognized using Yolo V9, a CNN-based AI model. Using a depth camera, the robot generates 3D maps to precisely control its arm, thus being able to interact with its surroundings appropriately. To measure inter-floor movement, the system utilizes acceleration data from an IMU sensor. Experiments were conducted to evaluate, the robot’s performance in terms of autonomous navigation through map generation, elevator button recognition and operation, and inter-floor movement measurement. The findings confirmed the system’s usability for delivery services.