How to choose a robot chassis suitable for a specific application scenario?

Environmental Factors

• Terrain Conditions: In flat indoor environments such as offices, hotels, and shopping malls, wheeled chassis are a better choice. For example, common service robots and warehouse logistics robots mostly use wheeled chassis. In complex terrains such as outdoor construction sites, mines, and field exploration areas with rough surfaces, mud, or gravel, tracked chassis are more appropriate. For robots that need to operate in narrow spaces, on stairs, or on irregular terrains, such as rescue robots working in ruins, legged chassis can flexibly cross obstacles and adapt to different terrains.
• Ground Material: On smooth ground such as marble and tiles, the grip of the tires of the wheeled chassis should be considered to ensure that the robot does not slip while walking. On soft ground such as sand and snow, tracked chassis have an advantage because of their large ground contact area and are not easy to get stuck.
• Environmental Temperature and Humidity: In high-temperature environments, the materials and electronic components of the chassis need to have high-temperature resistance. In low-temperature environments, it is necessary to prevent problems such as the decline of battery performance and the embrittlement of materials. In a high-humidity environment, the chassis may rust and the electronic components may short-circuit, so a chassis with an appropriate waterproof and dustproof rating needs to be selected.

Task Requirements

• Load Capacity: If the robot needs to carry heavy objects, such as industrial handling robots and large logistics robots, a chassis with strong load capacity needs to be selected. Generally, a wheeled or tracked chassis of the corresponding specification can be selected according to the load weight. For small robots that only need to carry a small amount of equipment or tools, such as indoor cleaning robots, the requirement for load capacity is low, and a small and lightweight chassis can be selected.
• Moving Speed: In some scenarios with high efficiency requirements, such as express sorting and material handling, the robot needs to move quickly, and the wheeled chassis can usually meet the requirement of high speed. For some robots that need to operate slowly in complex environments, such as bomb disposal robots and inspection robots, speed is not a key factor, and more attention is paid to stability and safety.
• Operation Precision: For robots that need to perform fine operations, such as surgical robots and industrial assembly robots, the chassis may need to have high-precision positioning and motion control capabilities, and usually needs to be equipped with high-precision sensors and advanced control systems.

Functional Characteristics

• Drive Mode: Common wheeled drives include two-wheel differential drive, four-wheel drive, etc. A robot with two-wheel differential drive turns flexibly and is suitable for narrow indoor spaces. Four-wheel drive has stronger power and better stability, and is suitable for scenarios where the robot needs to travel on different ground surfaces. For a robot with a tracked drive, it has strong power and good grip, and is suitable for driving on rough or soft ground.
• Steering Ability: For robots that frequently turn in narrow spaces, such as indoor service robots and warehouse robots, a chassis with a small turning radius needs to be selected. Some special steering structures, such as omnidirectional wheel chassis, can enable the robot to move in any direction, greatly improving the flexibility of the robot.
• Sensor Configuration: Different application scenarios have different requirements for sensors. For example, a robot used for navigation needs to be equipped with lidar, cameras, ultrasonic sensors, etc.; a robot used for detecting environmental parameters may need gas sensors, temperature sensors, etc.

Cost Factors

• Purchase Cost: Generally speaking, the cost of a wheeled chassis is relatively low. Due to its complex structure and high manufacturing process requirements, the cost of a tracked chassis is relatively high. The legged chassis has high technical difficulty and also has a high cost. On the premise of meeting the application requirements, an appropriate chassis should be selected according to the budget.
• Maintenance Cost: The wheeled chassis has a simple structure and is relatively easy to maintain, with a low maintenance cost. The tracks of the tracked chassis are easy to wear and need to be replaced regularly, resulting in a relatively high maintenance cost. Due to the complex mechanical structure and control system of the legged chassis, the maintenance difficulty is high, and the maintenance cost is also high.