ESP32 Omnidirectional Robot

Omni wheels, as explained in the video below, are wheels that have rollers positioned at 90º to the main axis of rotation. This enables them to rotate in one direction, and also slide in a perpendicular orientation. In this project, maker.moekoe builds two robotic systems based on omni wheels, one with three wheels and one with four.

Both robots, in theory, should be able to move forwards, backwards, and turn at will, or perform any combination of these movements. However, the video shows the three-wheeled version in action, as this implements a few bug fixes from the four-wheel design. Both robots feature a PCB that acts not only as an electronics substrate, but also as the mechanical structure of the design. The assembly process of the four-wheeled version is beautifully documented starting at around the 3:30 mark.

With electronics, including an ESP32-S2, soldered onto the PCB, maker.moekoe adds on three and four small motors and their corresponding omni wheels. An OV2640 camera is added to the three-wheeled version via a 3D-printed mounting structure, along with a 3D-printed motor cover, which is a nice touch.

As seen around 8:44, the robot software generates a web interface. This displays images from the device’s camera, as well as sliders for rotation and light brightness. A hidden joystick pops up to allow it to slide in the X/Y plane.

What’s really interesting is when maker.moekoe uses his tiny Picoclick ESP dev board with its six-axis IMU to react to hand movements. It looks like a lot of fun to drive right now, though he's updated the designs and future versions should be even better!