A teaching omnidirectional mobile platform on Mecanum wheels with a chassis camera, ultrasonic obstacle sensors and a mounting position for a robotic manipulator, for studying autonomous systems, machine vision and artificial intelligence in schools.
The Labotrix Omni R4 is a teaching omnidirectional chassis on Mecanum wheels for studying autonomous transport systems, machine vision and artificial intelligence algorithms. It travels in any direction without turning the body and is designed to work together with a teaching robotic manipulator, which is purchased separately: the manipulator is installed in a dedicated mounting position on the platform and moves with it, forming a mobile manipulation complex. The built-in ultrasonic sensors and the camera let the platform recognise obstacles, the travel line and road signs, so classes work through scenarios of autonomous movement, cargo sorting and logistics. The product is used in schools in computer science, technology and robotics lessons and in club and project work, for students of 10 years and older, that is grade 5 and above.
The platform is driven by four Mecanum wheels, two of left and two of right rotation, whose rim rollers give movement forward, backward, sideways, diagonally and rotation on the spot without turning the body. The product weighs 5 kg, measures 463 × 289 × 124 mm, carries a load of 5 kg together with the manipulator and the cargo, and its maximum travel speed is 1 m/s. The manipulator mounting position comes with ready-made power (4-pin, 12 V) and communication (10-pin) cables and is dimensioned for a manipulator of 2 kg, while the body has a cargo platform for placing objects, an emergency stop button and threaded holes for attaching additional equipment. Four ultrasonic sensors detect obstacles at a range of 30 cm over a scanning sector of 60 degrees, a gyroscope holds the heading, turns the platform through a set angle and computes the coordinates of its position, and the chassis camera recognises the travel line and road signs on the training map of 328 × 235 cm. The camera supplied for mounting on the manipulator recognises objects and positioning markers and its bracket tilts from 0 to 90 degrees, and a memory card slot stores images and trained object recognition models. The control modes are remote by joystick, wireless over Bluetooth, wired by cable and script-based, the latter running autonomously from the switching unit without a computer, and the wireless adapter operates at a range of 15 m in open space; status LEDs show the current mode by the colour and pattern of their light. In wireless and wired modes the platform and the connected manipulator are controlled in real time from the software environment on the computer with blocks, a Python script or the control panel, and in joystick mode the sticks and buttons set the direction and speed of travel and control the arms of the manipulator. Programming is available in a graphical block environment for beginners and in text form in Python for complex scenarios. Two built-in battery packs of 2500 mAh and 27 Wh each give 150 minutes of autonomous work following a line with the manipulator running at the same time, and a full charge takes about 110 minutes. The switching unit is built on a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 microcontroller, has a maximum power consumption of 60 W, is fed with 12 V DC / 5 A from a mains supply of 100 to 240 V AC at 50/60 Hz, and carries 2 controlled 12 V power interfaces, 6 universal ports for expansion sensors, a USB link to the computer and a Bluetooth communication channel. The operating temperature range is 0 to +35 °C.
The set includes the mobile omnidirectional platform with four Mecanum wheels, two built-in battery packs and a chassis camera — 1 pc, the switching unit mounted on the platform — 1 pc, a camera for mounting on the manipulator with a bracket and a communication cable — 1 set, a calibration board with nine markers for calibrating the camera — 1 pc, a joystick — 1 pc, a wireless receiver for the joystick signal — 1 pc, a wireless communication adapter (Bluetooth) — 1 pc, a USB cable for connection to a computer — 1 pc, a 12 V / 5 A power supply with a mains cable — 1 pc, 10-pin communication cables — 2 pcs, a 4-pin power cable — 1 pc, 4-pin camera communication cables — 2 pcs, a mounting accessory set with hex keys and screws — 1 set, a mat map with applied markings for practising navigation algorithms — 1 pc, a set of accessories for the training map with direction signs, boxes and objects for sorting — 1 set, the user manual and the methodological guide — 1 set, an access licence to the online course with the assistant built on a language model — 1 pc, the passport with the warranty card — 1 pc, and individual transport packaging — 1 pc. The robotic manipulator and other expansion modules are not part of the platform and are supplied separately. The product needs no assembly beyond installing the chosen external accessories, the manipulator and its camera, where these are used.
The product is supplied with an access right to an online teaching support course hosted in a learning management system (LMS) and covering 70 academic hours of lessons, compiled for the current curricula of Ukrainian general secondary schools. The materials are grouped into research modules in physics, biology, chemistry, STEM and robotics, and every topic contains a lesson plan, a list of the equipment required, an experiment scenario, a step-by-step laboratory work instruction with an explanation of the expected result, a video demonstration of working techniques, interactive exercises and tasks for independent study, suitable for both individual and group work. All modules were compiled for this same equipment and verified on it, so the course runs along a direct chain from the item of equipment through the methodology to the learning outcomes.
The kit includes an AI assistant built into the learning management system on retrieval-augmented generation. It selects research tasks and experiments matching the topic of the lesson, describes the procedure of the experiment step by step, identifies typical student errors and gives personalised recommendations for correcting them, adapts task difficulty to different levels of student preparation, supports students in compiling reports on research results and in structuring the conclusions drawn from experiments, and works on a localised knowledge base aligned with the national curriculum of Ukraine. The licence for the course and the software is valid for 12 months; content, interface and learning materials are in Ukrainian.
The platform is started on a level horizontal surface — the floor, the training map or a wide table with edges — with a clearance of 0.5 m around it and with the travel path free of people, animals, cables and objects, and hands are kept away from under the platform and from between the wheels and the body during movement, since the rollers of the Mecanum wheels can pinch. The emergency stop button halts the platform and blocks the motors, and pressing it again releases the block. Before precise positioning the platform is placed at the marked starting point of the training map and the coordinate reset command is executed, and the manipulator camera is calibrated with the nine-marker calibration board laid on the cargo platform. Automatic line following is switched on from the control panel or from the program, the chassis camera holding the platform on the travel line while road signs are used to stop it or change its route according to the lesson scenario, and the ultrasonic obstacle sensors are switched on separately, after which the platform stops moving in the direction of a detected obstacle. Connect the product only to the supplied power supply, make and break all cable connections with the product fully de-energised, and wipe the body with a soft dry or slightly damp cloth, cleaning the wheel rollers with a soft brush and the camera lenses with an optical wipe. Store the platform in a dry heated room at a temperature from +5 to +40 °C with the battery fully charged, recharging it once every three months while the product is not in use. The service life of the product is 5 years and the warranty period is 12 months from the date of sale.
