JP3294471B2 - Omnidirectional vehicle and steering control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an omnidirectional vehicle having drive wheels which are used as an unmanned transfer robot, a computer-controlled vehicle, and the like, and a steering control method for the omnidirectional vehicle. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present inventor has previously described Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
No. 62 (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 62-33989),
A steering control device for an omnidirectional vehicle is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 169329 (JP-B-1-34166).
Each of the above-mentioned proposed steering control devices has three modes required for an omnidirectional vehicle by a relatively simple mechanism, that is, all the wheels are directed in the same direction without changing the direction of the vehicle body. Omni-directional mode that allows you to travel to
Fix the rear wheel in the straight direction like a normal car,
Switchable between the vehicle mode in which the front wheels can be arbitrarily steered in the same direction and the rotation mode in which each wheel shaft is fixed toward the center of the vehicle body and the vehicle body rotates around its center. It was done.

However, a conventional omnidirectional vehicle including such a proposed device generally requires a large number of actuators, such as a motor for driving a driving wheel and a motor for driving a steering shaft. In addition, when a plurality of driving wheels and steering shafts are driven by a single motor, respectively, a rotating shaft and a clutch are provided between the motor and the driving wheels and the shaft, a holding plate and a bearing for holding these components, and a rotation transmitting direction. Bevel gears that change the gears, and power transmission devices such as differential gears to eliminate the difference between the inner and outer race wheels during turning, are complexly mounted along the vehicle body, and in reality, The power transmission mechanism becomes very complicated, and not only is the design and maintenance of the mobile vehicle difficult, but also the mobile vehicle becomes large and unnecessarily expensive.

Further, in order to avoid the above-mentioned problem, when attempting to modularize the driving wheels for omnidirectional movement, two motors are required for one driving wheel, and four motors are required for two driving wheels. Since eight motors are required for driving wheels,
The problem of increase in price, weight, dimensions, etc. has newly arisen.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The technical problem of the present invention is to reduce the number of motors and reduce the cost by making a single motor perform wheel drive and steering of the drive wheels in an omnidirectional vehicle. An object of the present invention is to provide an omnidirectional vehicle capable of providing excellent characteristics such as simplification and weight reduction of a mechanism and modularization. In recent years, high-performance computers have become available at low cost,
Since the utilization technology has been developed, it has become more advantageous to simplify the mechanism by computer control than to use a complicated mechanism. A technical object of the present invention is to provide a steering control for an omnidirectional vehicle that can realize simple and smooth steering control by controlling based on an output of a rotation angle detector provided on a driving wheel of the omnidirectional vehicle. It is to provide a method.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first omnidirectional vehicle according to the present invention has a steering plate rotatably supported by a support plate fixed to a vehicle body. A wheel drive motor is supported by the wheel support member of the above, and a wheel that is grounded at a position deviated from the axis of rotation of the steering shaft is mounted on a wheel shaft driven by the motor, and the wheel is driven between the support plate and the steering shaft. In the closed state, the steering shaft is
And the steering shaft in the open state.
With a single clutch that can rotate, and wheel drive
The wheels are rotatable by a motor, thereby forming drive wheels to be mounted on the vehicle body.

In a second omnidirectional vehicle according to the present invention, a steering plate is non-rotatably supported by a support plate fixed to a vehicle body, and a wheel drive member is rotatably mounted on the steering shaft. Along with supporting the motor, a wheel that is grounded at a position deviated from the axis of the steering shaft is attached to a wheel shaft driven by the motor,
Between the wheel supporting member and the steering shaft, stearyl
Gear on the clutch side that meshes with the gear fixed to the
A clutch that can be fixed or rotatable to the wheel support member
And driving wheels to be attached to the vehicle body.

Further, the method of the present invention for performing steering control using the omnidirectional vehicle includes providing the omnidirectional vehicle with at least one drive wheel for applying a propulsive force to a vehicle body. By moving the vehicle body with the clutch open, equalizing the speed of the vehicle body and the wheel movement speed due to the rotation of the wheels, and moving straight ahead, changing the wheel movement speed due to the rotation of the wheels with respect to the body speed It is characterized in that the steering angle is controlled.

[0009]

The drive wheels of the omnidirectional vehicle are modularized and can be used by being appropriately mounted on the body of the omnidirectional vehicle. The drive wheels and the steering operation of the drive wheels of the omnidirectional vehicle are controlled. Although a single motor is used, by controlling the wheel drive motor and the clutch, it is possible to perform the required traveling with the wheels directed in the required direction, and the number of motors is reduced, the cost is reduced, and the mechanism is remarkable. Simplification and weight reduction are achieved. Further, in order to perform the steering control in the omnidirectional vehicle, the vehicle is moved straight while the clutch is in an open state, the vehicle speed is equal to the vehicle speed due to the rotation of the vehicle, and the vehicle is further moved straight. The steering angle can be controlled by changing the wheel moving speed due to the rotation of the wheel with respect to the speed of the vehicle, thereby realizing a simple and smooth steering control.

[0010]

FIG. 1 schematically shows a basic configuration of drive wheels of an omnidirectional vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention. These drive wheels are modularized by equipping a support plate 2 which is fixed to the vehicle body 1 with bolts or the like, all of which are provided. That is, a steering shaft 3 disposed substantially vertically is rotatably supported by the bearing 12 on the support plate 2, and a fixed clutch plate 4 a is provided on the support plate 2 side, and the support shaft 2 rotates coaxially with the steering shaft 3. However, a slidable movable clutch plate 4b is provided in the axial direction, and the steering shaft 3 is supported by the clutch 4 formed by the clutch plate 4b so that the steering shaft 3 can be rotated or fixed with respect to the support plate 2. The clutch 4 can interrupt transmission of rotational force by an electric signal.

Further, a horizontal wheel shaft 5 is rotatably supported by bearings 14 and 15 on a wheel support member 13 integrally provided below the steering shaft 3. A wheel drive motor 7 for rotating and driving the wheels 6 via the wheel shaft 5 is attached. Usually, a reduction gear for transmitting the driving force and the like are arranged between the wheel 6 and the wheel drive motor 7, but this is omitted in the figure. The wheel 6 attached to the wheel shaft 5 is disposed so as to be in contact with the ground at a position deviated laterally from the axis of rotation of the steering shaft 3 itself, and a gear 8a is fixed to the wheel shaft 5. A rotation angle detector 9 such as a rotary encoder for detecting the rotation angle or rotation speed of the wheel 6 via the gear 8b meshing with the gear 8a is attached to the wheel support member 13. On the other hand, a gear 10a is provided at the upper end of the steering shaft 3 and
Rotation angle detector 1 such as a rotary encoder provided above
The gear 10b is meshed with a gear 10b attached to one input shaft. The detectors 9 and 11 detect the rotation angle and the rotation speed of the wheel 6 or the rotation angle of the steering shaft 3 via gears, respectively. The rotation is transmitted by appropriate means other than the gears. May be configured.

The modularized drive wheel having the above-described structure operates as follows. For example, when the clutch 4 is closed and the wheel drive motor 7 is driven with the steering shaft 3 fixed to the support plate 2 without rotating around its central axis, the vehicle body 1 Receives driving force in the direction of Conversely, when the clutch 4 is opened and the steering shaft 3 is rotatable, the driving of the wheel drive motor 7 causes the steering shaft to move along with the wheels 6 and the wheel drive motor 7 provided below the central axis. Rotate around. The modularized drive wheels that perform such operations may be installed as, for example, two diagonal wheels in a four-wheel omnidirectional vehicle, and used as a configuration in which the other two diagonal wheels are casters. Yes, but 3 of the vehicle
Various movement modes can also be formed by configuring all the wheels or four wheels with the drive wheel module.

FIG. 2 shows a basic traveling mode of the vehicle when four omnidirectional driving wheels are installed. FIG.
As shown in the figure, the angle of the steering shaft 3 in each module is controlled so that all the extension lines of the four wheel shafts of the vehicle pass through a certain point (turning center point) C, and when the clutch 4 is closed, the wheel drive motor By the drive of 7, the vehicle body 1 moves so as to turn around this point C. This is called a turning mode. In addition, as shown in FIG.
Is closed, the vehicle body 1 moves in that direction. This is called a straight traveling mode. Further, as shown in FIG. 5D, when the axis of the wheels 6 in all the modules is set to an angle passing through the center point O of the vehicle body, the vehicle body 1 rotates in place around the center point O. Do. This is called a rotation mode.
As shown in FIG. 2B, the rear two wheels are fixed in the forward linear movement direction, and the turning center C of the front two wheels is
When it is on the wheel axis of the wheel, it moves like a typical car. This is called an automobile mode, and this automobile mode is considered to be a special case of the turning mode. Further, in the turning mode of FIG. 2A, if the distance between the vehicle body center point O and the turning center point C is ρ, the rotation mode of FIG. 2D is considered to be the case where ρ = 0. The linear mode in (c) is considered to be the case where ρ = ∞.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a second embodiment in which the drive wheel module having the basic configuration shown in FIG. 1 is downsized. In the embodiment of the figure, a steering shaft 23,
Upper and lower support plates 22a and 22b for fixing to a vehicle body are non-rotatably supported, and a wheel drive motor 27 is supported by a wheel support member 33 rotatably mounted on the steering shaft 23. Wheel axle 25 driven by 27
, A wheel 26 that touches the ground at a position deviated from the axis of the steering shaft 23 is attached to the wheel support member 33.
Fixed between the steering shaft 23 and the steering shaft 23
The gear 36 on the clutch side that meshes with the gear 35
A clutch fixed to the support member 33 or rotatable.
24 are provided. The clutch 24 is provided with the wheel support.
It is fixed to the holding member 33.

The same function can be exerted by the support plate 22 whether it is a structural plate constituting this module or a part of the vehicle body for the sake of design. In addition, a rotation angle detector such as a rotary encoder for detecting a rotation angle and a rotation speed of each of the wheels 26 and the steering shaft 23 is arranged, but these are omitted in FIG. In this embodiment, the steering shaft 23 is non-rotatably supported by the upper and lower support plates 22a and 22b, and the wheel support member 33 is
3, the steering shaft 23 can be rotatably supported by the upper and lower support plates 22a and 22b, and the wheel support member 33 can be fixed to the steering shaft 23 so as not to rotate. In this case, the spur gear 35 is rotatable with respect to the steering shaft 23 and needs to be fixedly provided on the support plate 22a.

The second embodiment of FIG. 3 is different from the first embodiment of FIG.
The configuration of the embodiment has the following three advantages. (A) In the second embodiment, the thickness (height) of the drive wheel module is smaller than when the clutch 4 is directly installed on the steering shaft 3 as in the first embodiment, and the drive wheel module can be downsized. In addition, the design of the vehicle body including the module as a component is facilitated. (B) By making the diameter of the gear 36 installed on the shaft of the clutch smaller than the diameter of the gear 35 installed on the steering shaft 23, the braking force of the clutch is amplified. The clutch can be used, and the size of the module can be reduced.

(C) As will be described later, in the omnidirectional vehicle equipped with the driving wheels shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 3, it is possible to control the steering angle even when the clutch is opened during running. It has been confirmed by experiments. In a state where the clutch is opened while such a vehicle is moving, the wheels receive a reaction force from the obstacles, for example, when the wheels step on a small obstacle, and the drive wheel module may be vibrated, It is necessary to suppress this vibration as much as possible. At this time, FIG.
In the configuration of the second embodiment, the motor 27 and the clutch 24 are arranged at positions distant from the steering shaft 23, so that the moment of inertia around the steering shaft is increased, and the vibration suppression effect is clearly apparent. There is.

The driving wheels of the third embodiment shown in FIG.
Although it has basically the same configuration as the second embodiment of FIG. 3,
This is a prototype made for an experiment, and its configuration is shown by a horizontal section. The wheel drive motor 47 shown in the figure is connected so as to drive the wheels 46 via reduction gears 57a, 57b and reduction gears 58a, 58b. The steering shaft 43 is rotatably supported so as to contact the ground at a position deviated from the rotation axis of the steering shaft 43, and its bearing and the wheel drive motor 47 are fixed to the lower wheel support member 53. The wheel support member 53 is rotatably mounted on a steering shaft 43 fixedly supported on a support plate for fixing to the vehicle body.
A gear 55 is fixedly mounted coaxially with the gear 55.
Is connected to a clutch 44 provided on the wheel supporting member 53 via a gear 56 and to a rotation angle detector 51 such as a rotary encoder for detecting the rotation angle of the steering shaft via a gear 50. On the other hand, wheel 46
Is measured by a rotation angle detector 49 such as a rotary encoder installed in the wheel drive motor 47.

In this embodiment, by increasing the reduction ratio from the gear 55 to the gear 56, it is possible to generate a force sufficient to stop the rotation of the module around the steering shaft with a small clutch, and to increase the steering angle. , The stopping accuracy can be increased. Further, since the heavy wheel drive motor 47 can be arranged at a position distant from the steering shaft 43, the moment of inertia around the steering shaft is increased. Vibration due to the reaction force received from the vehicle can be suppressed.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of an omnidirectional vehicle constructed using four drive wheel modules 60 having the above configuration. In the drive wheel module 60 of the omnidirectional vehicle, a support plate of the drive wheel module is fixed to the vehicle body 61 via a suspension mechanism described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, 63a is a power supply battery for the wheel drive motor, 63b is an electronic circuit battery,
Reference numerals a and 64b denote battery loading plates, and reference numerals 65a and 65b denote heavy batteries when they are maintained.
a, 66 a, 66 b
b is a substrate of a computer and an electronic circuit.

FIG. 6 shows a suspension mechanism suitable for effectively operating the drive wheel module 60. In the figure, a drive wheel module 6 not shown is shown.
Reference numeral 0 denotes a connecting member 70 to which the supporting plate is fixed, a suspension holding plate 71 to which the connecting member 70 is attached, and a pair of parallel link mechanisms 72, 72 which hold the suspension holding plate 71 and translate in the vertical direction. Through,
Connected to vehicle body 61. The suspension holding plate 71
Is mounted on a spring rest 73 fixed thereto.
The lower spring pedestal 75 is disposed via the lower spring pedestal 75.
An inner spring 77 and an outer spring 78 are held between the upper spring pedestal 76 fixed to the vehicle body 61. This outer spring 78
Is interposed in a state of being constantly compressed between the vehicle body 61 and the spacer 74, so that the suspension holding plate 71 is always engaged with the ear plate of the stopper 79. On the other hand, the inner spring 77 is interposed so as to be compressed between the spring pedestals 75 and 76 when the outer spring 78 is compressed by a certain amount or more.

The suspension mechanism including the inner spring 77, the outer spring 78, the parallel link mechanism 72, etc.
It functions for flexible up and down swinging of the wheel with respect to 1 and its operation will be described below. Normally, since the outer spring 78 is held in a compressed state between the vehicle body 61 and the spacer 74, the upper edge of the suspension holding plate 71 is always pressed against the ear plate of the stopper 79. . This is the car body and suspension holding plate 7
This is the largest gap between the two. However, during traveling, the outer spring 78 is normally in a slightly compressed state.

When the body becomes heavy, the outer spring 78 is compressed,
Eventually, the upper spring pedestal 76 comes into contact with the upper end of the inner spring 77. Further compression is achieved by the outer spring 78 and the inner spring 77.
The wheels are supported by a composite spring mechanism that uses the sum of the spring coefficients of the two as a spring coefficient. Furthermore, when receiving a heavier weight or a strong impact force, the two springs 77 and 78 are further compressed, so that the edge of the lower spring seat 75 and the edge of the upper spring seat 76 come into contact. This is the compression limit of this suspension mechanism. Normally, by previously increased towards the spring constant k ₂ of the inner spring 77 than the spring coefficient k ₁ of the outer spring 78 serves as a soft suspension when the vehicle body is light normal conditions, therefore, little running surface It often focuses on unevenness and body vibration. However, when a heavy load is mounted on the vehicle body using only the outer spring, the spring is immediately compressed and the spring pedestals 75 and 76 come into direct contact with each other and the suspension function does not work.
When the outer spring 78 is compressed, the inner spring 77 has a higher spring rigidity.
As a result, the suspension function can be operated even under a heavy load.

That is, this suspension mechanism can cope with a light load to a heavy load in a small space, and makes it possible to form a suspension mechanism whose spring coefficient changes non-linearly on the way. In addition,
The spacer 74 makes it possible to easily adjust the gap until the inner spring operates.

The drive control of the omnidirectional vehicle having the above-described mechanism can be mainly performed by the following two methods. (A) A method of moving with the clutch closed during movement. In this method, the steering angle is fixed. The movement mode is also in the same state. From the viewpoint of drive control, the movement modes of the omnidirectional vehicle are, as shown in FIG. 2, three modes: a turning mode (including a car mode), a straight traveling (including a skew and a traversing) mode, and a rotation mode. There are different types of travel modes. If you want to change these movement modes on the way, stop the movement of the body, turn the wheels around the steering shaft with the clutch open, change the mode, close the clutch again, and Move in move mode. This method is the most common, and can be used for many operation requests with this moving method.

(B) A method of moving with the clutch opened during the movement. Although this method requires advanced driving wheel control, it has been experimentally confirmed that in the vehicle mode, sufficient accuracy and responsiveness can be obtained for practical use. This method is described in detail below.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the control method when the clutch is opened. As shown in the figure, the speed of the vehicle body 1 is V _O , and the moving speed due to the rotation of the wheels 6 is V _W. In the figure, 3 is a steering shaft, 5 is a wheel shaft, and 6 is a wheel. Now, if the speed V _W is higher than V _O , the wheels 6 try to move faster than the vehicle body 1, so that the wheels rotate around the steering shaft 3 and
Move ahead of. Conversely, if the speed V _W is smaller than V _O , the wheels 6 are behind the vehicle body 1 and move around the steering shaft 3 to the rear of the vehicle body. Therefore, the speeds V _W and V
_{When O} is equal, the wheel 6 moves following the vehicle body in a form protruding to the side of the vehicle body 1. When an experiment was conducted using an experimental device for examining the characteristics of only one wheel, it was found that, by optimizing the control method, the steering shaft was able to move straight with almost no swing of the steering shaft even with the clutch open. I have. Also, as described above, it has been confirmed in an experiment that even if a small obstacle is stepped on, the drive wheel itself has a motor and other mechanical elements and a moment of inertia acts, so that it is hardly affected.

Utilizing this principle, a simplified mechanism having a single motor as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 may be used to close the clutch as a drive wheel at one time and open the clutch at another time to operate the steering wheel. Like a steering wheel that turns
Switching according to the situation becomes possible, and almost the same function can be provided by a much simpler mechanism than the conventional omnidirectional moving mechanism. However, since no propulsive force is applied to the vehicle body when the clutch is open, when such steering control is performed, the two rear wheels are set as drive wheels in the automobile mode as shown in FIG. It is common to use the front two wheels with the clutch open,
It is not always possible to use it only at this time.

When it is possible to move in such a state that the clutch is open, for example, it is possible to move along a locus that draws an S-shaped curve in the automobile mode. FIG. 8 shows the S mode in the actual vehicle mode in which the front two wheels are disengaged by an experimental vehicle.
This shows a state in which characters are drawn, and a measured trajectory as shown by a dotted line could be drawn with respect to a target trajectory shown by a solid line. From this experimental result, it is considered that the movement in the clutch open state does not have a serious problem in practical use.

As described above, in order to move a certain wheel while the clutch is open, at least one clutch-closed driving wheel for applying a driving force to the vehicle body is provided among the other wheels. Is necessary. If the vehicle is a four-wheeled vehicle, it is practically desirable to use two wheels to travel with the clutch closed. As shown in FIG. 9, several combinations are possible when two of the four wheels are used as drive wheels with the clutch closed. That is, (1) a method in which the angles of the rear two wheels are fixed to be the drive wheels 6b and the front two wheels are the steered wheels 6a as shown in FIG. (3) As shown in FIG. 3 (b), two diagonal wheels are used as fixed-angle drive wheels 6b, and the other two wheels are used as fixed drive wheels 6b. A method in which two wheels are used as the steered wheels 6a, and the like. Further, it is also possible to change the selection of these two fixed wheels during running according to the situation. Of course, the vehicle mode is possible in four directions of front and rear and left and right lateral directions, and for each of them, either rear wheel fixed or front wheel fixed can be selected.

In order to control the driving of the omnidirectional vehicle, the rotation angle and rotation speed of the wheels or the rotation angle of the steering shaft are detected by using a rotation angle detector such as a rotary encoder. It is necessary to know in real time what kind of posture and in what position, and especially in the case of an omnidirectional vehicle that can steer four wheels independently, it is possible to take complicated running forms and running trajectories. It is necessary to know the posture and position of the vehicle body in real time. The outline of the kinematic operation of the vehicle body for this purpose is as follows.

FIG. 10 shows a coordinate system and symbols representing the motion of the vehicle body in the turning mode. In the figure, O ₀ −X ₀
Y ₀ is an absolute coordinate system, O-XY is a coordinate system fixed to the vehicle, C: coordinates of the turning center, O: coordinates of the center of the vehicle body, θ: attitude angle of the vehicle body, φ: vehicle body. , V: speed around the center of turning, ρ: turning radius, and O ₀ : absolute coordinates. These parameters have the following relationship, which is an equation representing the motion of the vehicle body in the turning mode.

[0033]

(Equation 1)

Incidentally, the other straight-ahead traveling mode is a simpler equation, and is omitted here.

[0035]

According to the present invention described in detail above, a single motor is used to drive and steer the driving wheels of the omnidirectional vehicle, thereby reducing the number of motors, reducing the cost, and improving the mechanism. In addition, excellent characteristics such as simplification, weight reduction, and modularization can be provided, and simple and smooth steering control can be realized by controlling the driving wheels of the omnidirectional vehicle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view schematically showing a basic configuration of drive wheels of an omnidirectional vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A to 2D are explanatory diagrams showing a basic movement mode of a vehicle when four omnidirectional movement drive wheels are installed.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view schematically showing a basic configuration of drive wheels of an omnidirectional vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view showing a configuration of a drive wheel according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing a configuration of an omnidirectional vehicle using four drive wheel modules.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a suspension mechanism suitable for the drive wheel module.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the principle of steering control when the clutch is opened.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a traveling trajectory in a case where an S-shape is drawn in an automobile mode in which the front two wheels are disengaged by an experimental vehicle.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are explanatory views exemplifying a combination in which two of the four wheels are used as drive wheels with the clutch closed.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a coordinate system and symbols representing the motion of the vehicle body in the turning mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Body 2 Support plate 3,23,43 Steering shaft 4,24,44 Clutch 5,25,45 Wheel shaft 6,26,46 Wheel 7,27,47 Wheel drive motor 13,33,53 Wheel support member 22a, 22b Support plate 35, 36, 55, 56 Gear

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-60-252025 (JP, A) JP-A-64-70803 (JP, A) JP-A-62-181884 (JP, A) 33989 (JP, B2) Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-34166 (JP, B2) (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60K 17/358 B62D 7/14 B62D 6/00 B62D 101: 00 B62D 137: 00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A steering plate is rotatably supported by a support plate fixed to a vehicle body, and a wheel driving motor is supported by a wheel supporting member on the steering shaft. Attach the grounding wheel at a position deviated from the axis of rotation of the steering shaft, and close it between the support plate and the steering shaft.
Fix the steering shaft to the support plate
A single rotation of the steering shaft to the support plate
A clutch is provided, and the wheels are rotated by the wheel drive motor
An omnidirectional vehicle comprising: a driving wheel that is mounted on a vehicle body; 2. A steering plate is non-rotatably supported by a support plate fixed to a vehicle body, and a wheel driving motor is supported by a wheel supporting member rotatably mounted on the steering shaft and driven by the motor. Attach a grounding wheel to the wheel axle at a position deviated from the axis of the steering shaft, and, between the wheel support member and the steering axle, a clutch meshing with a gear fixed to the steering axle.
The gear on the front side is fixed or rotatable on the wheel support member.
An omnidirectional vehicle is provided, comprising: a clutch for driving the vehicle; 3. A method for performing steering control of an omnidirectional vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the omnidirectional vehicle has at least one drive wheel for applying a propulsive force to a vehicle body. While moving the vehicle body with the clutch open, the vehicle speed is equal to the wheel speed due to the rotation of the wheel, and the vehicle is moved straight ahead. A steering control method for an omnidirectional vehicle, wherein a steering angle is controlled by changing the steering angle.