An ATMEGA 168-based semi-autonomous mobile forklift system with six degrees of freedom

A mobile forklift used in industries and factories contributes to an increase in productivity. However, most mobile forklifts have limited freedom of movement, especially in tight or narrow work areas, as well as difficulties in avoiding obstacles due to limited operational flexibility and manoeuvrability. This work focuses on the design and construction of a model of a semi-autonomous mobile forklift having six degrees of freedom using a four omni mecanum wheeled platform. Test results obtained show that vibration of internal mechanism, response time of components and the nature of work terrain or surface all determine the performance responses of the loaded and unloaded forklift system during test. The longitudinal speed, transversal speed and angular speed responses of the forklift are proportional to the input pulse signals supplied for the control purpose as determined by the microcontroller used as the central processing unit of the developed system. A prototype of this mobile forklift with four omni mecanum wheel is developed and presented in this work.