The RoboDriveWheel Packs an STM32, Motor, Sensors, and More Into a Fully-Integrated Design

Robotics engineer Giuseppe Andrea Fontanelli, PhD, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for a wheel with a difference: the RoboDriveWheel is a fully-integrated motorized device aimed at mobile robotics projects.

"RoboDriveWheel is a motorized wheel, fully integrated, for the development of a new generation of safe and versatile service mobile robots," Fontanelli explains of his creation, built as part of Sr3 Robotics' efforts. " Inside a Continental rubber with strong adhesion integrates a powerful brushless motor, a high-efficiency planetary gearbox and a control board implementing state of the art algorithms for torque and velocity control."

While externally the wheel looks like a simple solid metal device with a rubber tire attached, a look inside reveals the smarts Fontanelli has crammed inside: A motor driver connected to a motor and 1:9 planetary gearing system and a control board with an STMicro STM32G4 mixed-signal microcontroller, inertial measurement unit (IMU), and magnetic encoder, capable of communicating with external hardware via a CAN bus.

According to Fontanelli, the wheel runs on a 24V power supply and offers 13.5Nm peak torque and 5nm continuous torque, can drive an attached robot at speeds of up to 5km/h, and offers positioning accuracy to 0.01 degrees. A four-pole quick-coupling con ector is provided to make installation as easy as possible, while each wheel is rated IP64 for dust and water ingress protection.

Fontanelli's design started with the control board, which was developed at S4E Robotics for CAN control of brushless motors. To this, the wheel hardware was added — along with software samples in C++, Python, and MATLAB for single- or multiple-wheel control and collision detection.

"During my work [as a PostDoc], I designed more than 10 mobile robots and every time finding all mechanical components, electronics and software was time-consuming work," Fontanelli explains of the project's origins.

"So I started to think about using my experience in mechatronics and software to develop a stand-alone, fully integrated drive wheel which includes all the most important aspects I found to be essential in a robotic traction wheel."

The RoboDriveWheel is funding on Kickstarter now, with physical rewards starting at €100 for the control board alone or €805 for a single RoboDriveWheel — a claimed 40 per cent discount for early bird backers. All hardware is expected to ship in September this year.