This paper presents a kinematic motion control strategy for an n-axle Compliant Framed Modular wheeled Mobile Robot (CFMMR). This robot is essentially a passive-joint active-wheel snake robot where coordinated motion of the robot modules is critical for maximizing mobility and minimizing traction forces. A distributed master—slave kinematic motion control structure is proposed where the front axle module of the robot is the master and subsequent axle modules are slaves. An existing path manifold based controller is used to guide the motion of the master. Two steering algorithms with different specializations are then proposed for the slave modules. Performance of the steering algorithms is characterized based upon their capability to reduce traction forces, control final robot posture, and maneuver in a limited space. It is shown that these algorithms satisfy the physical constraints of the robot, which are characterized by path curvature and velocity limitations. Simulation and experimental results validate and characterize the performance of the algorithms.
Abou-Samah, M., Tang, C.P., Bhatt, R.M. and Krovi, V. ( 2006). A kinematically compatible framework for cooperative payload transport by nonholonomic mobile manipulators. Autonomous Robots, 21(3): 227-242.
2.
Altafini, C. ( 2003). Path following with reduced off-tracking for multibody wheeled vehicles. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology , 11(4): 598-605.
3.
Astolfi, A. ( 1999). Exponential stabilization of a wheeled mobile robot via discontinuous control. Transactions of the ASME. Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, 121(1): 121-127.
4.
Bacciotti, A. ( 1991). Local Stabilizability of Nonlinear Control Systems . World Scientific.
5.
Borenstein, J. ( 2000). The OmniMate: A guidewire- and beacon-free AGV for highly reconfigurable applications. International Journal of Production Research, 38(9): 1993-2010.
6.
Bushnell, L.G., Tilbury, D.M. and Sastry, S.S. ( 1995). Steering three-input nonholonomic systems. The fire truck example. International Journal of Robotics Research , 14(4): 366-381.
7.
Fujimori, A., Fujimoto, T. and Bohacs, G. ( 2005). Distributed leader-follower navigation of mobile robots . International Conference on Control and Automation (ICCA), Budapest, Hungary, pp. 960-965.
8.
Hashimoto, M., Oba, F. and Zenitani, S. ( 1993). Coordinative object- transportation by multiple industrial mobile robots using coupler with mechanical compliance. Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Electronics, Control, and Instrumentation, Maui, HI, USA, pp. 1577- 1582.
9.
Hirata, Y., Kume, Y., Sawada, T., Wang, Z.-D. and Kosuge, K. ( 2004). Handling of an object by multiple mobile manipulators in coordination based on caster-like dynamics. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation , New Orleans, LA, USA, pp. 807-812.
10.
Indiveri, G. ( 1999). Kinematic time-invariant control of a 2D nonholonomic vehicle. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Decision and Control, Phoenix, AZ, USA, vol. 3, pp. 2112-2117.
Kim, Y. and Minor, M.A. ( 2005). Bounded smooth time invariant motion control of unicycle kinematic models, Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Barcelona , Spain, pp. 3687-3692.
13.
Kim, Y. and Minor, M.A. ( 2007). Path manifold-based kinematic control of wheeled mobile robot considering physical constraints. International Journal of Robotics Research, 26(9): 955-975.
14.
Kimura, H. and Hirose, S. ( 2002). Development of Genbu: Active wheel passive joint articulated mobile robot. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Lausanne , Switzerland, pp. 823-828.
15.
Klaassen, B. and Paap, K.L. ( 1999). GMD-SNAKE2: a snake-like robot driven by wheels and a method for motion control. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Detroit, MI, USA, pp. 3014- 3019.
16.
La Valle, S.M. and Kuffner J.J., J. ( 2001). Randomized kinodynamic planning. International Journal of Robotics Research, 20(5): 378-400.
17.
Manesis, S.A., Davrazos, G.N. and Koussoulas, N.T. ( 2002). Controller design for off-tracking elimination in multi-articulated vehicles. 15th IFAC World Congress, Barcelona, Spain.
18.
Minor, M.A., Albiston, B.W. and Swensen, C.L. ( 2006). Simplified motion control of a two axle compliant framed wheeled mobile robot. IEEE Transactions on Robotics , 22(3): 491-506.
19.
Minor, M.A. and Merrell, R. ( 2007). Instrumentation and algorithms for posture estimation in compliant framed modular mobile robots. International Journal of Robotics Research, 26(5): 491-512.
20.
Nakamura, Y., Ezaki, H., Tan, Y. and Chung, W. ( 2001). Design of steering mechanism and control of nonholonomic trailer systems. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation , 17(3): 367-374.
21.
Park, S. and Minor, M.A. ( 2004). Modeling and dynamic control of compliant framed wheeled modular mobile robots. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, New Orleans, LA, USA, pp. 3937- 3943.
22.
Reeds, J.A. and Shepp, L.A. ( 1990). Optimal paths for a car that goes both forwards and backwards . Pacific Journal of Mathematics, 145(2): 367-393.
23.
Samson, C. ( 1995). Control of chained systems application to path following and time-varying point-stabilization of mobile robots. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 40(1): 64-77.
24.
Shao, J., Xie, G., Yu, J. and Wang, L. ( 2005). Leader-following formation control of multiple mobile robots. 2005 IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Control and 13th Mediterranean Conf. Control and Automation , Limassol, Cyprus, pp. 808-813.
25.
Shoop, S., Young, B., Alger, R. and Davis, J. ( 1994). Winter traction testing, Automotive Engineering (Warrendale Pennsylvania), 102(1): 75-78.
26.
Sugar, T. and Kumar, V. ( 1998). Decentralized control of cooperating mobile manipulators . IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 16-20 May 1998, Leuven, Belgium, pp. 2916-2921.
27.
Urruzola, J., Celigueta, J.T. and de Jalon, J.G. ( 2000). Generalization of foreshortening through new reduced geometrically nonlinear structural formulation. Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 23(4): 673-682.
28.
Zhu, X., Kim, Y., Merrell, R. and Minor, M.A. ( 2007). Cooperative motion control and sensing architecture in compliant framed modular mobile robots. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 23(5): 1095-1101.
