An article movement system includes an article and at least one ball wheel. The article has first and second article surfaces meeting at a first article edge. The ball wheel is located along the first article edge and includes a ball, a bearing arrangement and a shell. The ball engages a surface underlying the article, the bearing arrangement supports the ball for omni-directional rotational movement, and the shell is located along the first article edge and contains the ball and the bearing arrangement. The shell defines a non-circular ball opening through which a portion of the ball extends to contact the underlying surface. The article, the bearing arrangement and the shell are configured such that the ball wheel is able to support the article for omni-directional rolling motion over the underlying surface with either of the first and article surfaces parallel thereto, and at any orientation therebetween.

Wheels adapted to roll on and across surfaces of fields, for example, as part of irrigation systems of types used in agricultural applications. Such a wheel has an axis of rotation, a center portion comprising a central hub concentrically disposed on the axis of the wheel and multiple spokes radiating from the central hub, and a tread portion circumscribing the center portion. A radially outermost extent of each spoke terminates at a spade that is oriented parallel to the axis of the wheel. The tread portion includes tread plates, each located between and attached to adjacent pairs of the spokes. The spades protrude radially outward between and beyond adjacent pairs of the tread plates.

An AGV including a support structure and at least one drive unit connected to the support structure, wherein each drive unit includes a wheel rotatable about a wheel axis and about a steering axis perpendicular to the wheel axis; a wheel motor arranged to drive the wheel about the wheel axis; and a steering motor arranged to drive the wheel about the steering axis; wherein the AGV further includes at least one actuation member movable in an additional degree of freedom; and wherein the at least one actuation member is arranged to be driven by the wheel motor and/or the steering motor of at least one drive unit in the additional degree of freedom. A method of controlling an AGV is also provided.

An omni-directional wheel for a pool vacuum head includes a first frame and a second substantially identical frame, each frame having a hub rotating around a common axis, lower supports extending radially from the hub, risers extending from the hub along the common axis, and upper supports individually coupled to the risers, the upper supports extending radially from the common axis. Rollers coupled to the first frame and the second frame, are radially spaced from the common axis on each frame. The rollers rotate normal to the common axis to impart omni-directional movement. When the first frame and the second frame are interlocked, the risers on the first frame engage the hub on the second frame, and the lower supports on the first frame engaging the upper supports on the second frame, maintaining the rollers in a staggered arrangement around the wheel.

An omni-directional wheel for a pool vacuum head includes a first frame and a second substantially identical frame, each frame having a hub rotating around a common axis, lower supports extending radially from the hub, risers extending from the hub along the common axis, and upper supports individually coupled to the risers, the upper supports extending radially from the common axis. Rollers coupled to the first frame and the second frame, are radially spaced from the common axis on each frame. The rollers rotate normal to the common axis to impart omni-directional movement. When the first frame and the second frame are interlocked, the risers on the first frame engage the hub on the second frame, and the lower supports on the first frame engaging the upper supports on the second frame, maintaining the rollers in a staggered arrangement around the wheel.

A vehicle can include a base assembly, a rack assembly, and a processing system. The base assembly can include a platform, a plurality of wheels and a motor for driving at least one of the plurality of wheels. The rack assembly can include a storage shelf connected to the base assembly through a coupling, which includes a bearing assembly enabling the storage shelf to rotate with respect to the platform. The processing system can be configured to communicatively couple with the rack assembly and include one or more processors configured to: determine a location of a target good; cause the storage shelf to move based on the determined location.

In a frictional propulsion device comprising a main wheel including driven rollers rotatably supported by an annular core member about a tangential direction and a pair of drive disks each carrying a plurality of drive rollers rotatable about a rotational center line at an angle with respect to both a tangential line of the drive disk and the rotational center line of the drive disk such that the drive rollers at least partly engage the driven rollers, a diameter of a drive side contact circle is smaller than a diameter of a driven side contact circle, and the drive disks are vertically offset relative to the main wheel so that only those drive rollers adjoining the main wheel are in contact with the driven rollers.

In a frictional propulsion device comprising a main wheel including driven rollers rotatably supported by an annular core member about a tangential direction and a pair of drive disks each carrying a plurality of drive rollers rotatable about a rotational center line at an angle with respect to both a tangential line of the drive disk and the rotational center line of the drive disk such that the drive rollers at least partly engage the driven rollers, a diameter of a drive side contact circle is smaller than a diameter of a driven side contact circle, and the drive disks are vertically offset relative to the main wheel so that only those drive rollers adjoining the main wheel are in contact with the driven rollers.

A delivery robot is provided for the delivery of home dialysis supplies to a home dwelling of a home dialysis patient. The delivery robot can be an autonomous delivery robot. The delivery robot can have an outdoor set of wheels or other traction devices, and an indoor set of wheels or other traction devices. The delivery robot can be configured to switch between an outdoor configuration for traversing an outdoor surface, and an indoor configuration for traversing an inside surface, inside the home of the home dialysis patient. A network is also provided and can include a robot delivery vehicle, a warehouse, a remote computer within the patient's home, or a combination thereof. Methods of delivering home dialysis supplies are also provided that utilize the delivery robot and network.

A manufacturing apparatus for a drive disk includes: an upper member and a lower member each including a base and protrusions. Each protrusion is defined by a plurality of surfaces including a first side surface inclined with respect to opposed surfaces of the drive disk and a second side surface parallel to the opposed surfaces. The first side surface of the protrusion of the upper member and the first side surface of the protrusion of the lower member are parallel to each other and face away from each other. The second side surface of the protrusion of the upper member and the second side surface of the protrusion of the lower member face away from each other. The first side surface of the protrusion of the upper member and the first side surface of the protrusion of the lower member come into contact with each other to form the slot.