Locomotion

Differential Drive

Differential Drive is a mobile robot drive configuration using two independently controlled wheels on a common axis, with casters for balance. The robot moves straight when the wheels match speed, arcs when they differ, and turns in place when they counter-rotate. The platform is nonholonomic, unable to translate sideways, and its odometry follows directly from wheel encoder kinematics, making it the standard architecture for indoor mobile robots.

Why it matters for physical AI

Most warehouse AMRs, service robots, and research bases are differential drive, so its kinematic constraints shape the motion planners and velocity controllers the whole mobile robotics stack assumes.