Generic Modular Trajectory-Tracking Controller for Skid-Steered Mobile Platforms

Abstract

Where many tasks are entrusted to autonomous dynamic systems, it is important to provide reliable solutions able to tackle the increasing complexity of such systems and their tasks. Conventional control methods require modeling and stability analysis of these dynamic systems as a whole. This means that with increases in the complexity of the dynamic system, controller design and stability analysis become more difficult. In mobile robot control, in order to handle the complexity of the combined mobile platform and the tools, a modular control approach can be utilized that breaks the complex system down into less complex components and proves the stability of the controlled dynamic system through the stability of its sub systems. In this study, a general skid-steered mobile platform is considered as a single sub system, and the controller for its motion trajectory tracking is designed. Then, a stability analysis of the controller is conducted, and its performance is assessed in a commonly used physics engine. The results show promising outcomes, and the framework presented in this paper can facilitate the use of mobile robots.