On the Kinematics and Control of Wheeled Mobile Robots

Abstract

A wheeled mobile robot is modeled here as a planar rigid body that rides on an arbitrary number of wheels. The connections between the rigid body motion of the robot and the steering and driving controls of the wheels are developed. In particular, conditions are obtained that guarantee that rolling without slipping can occur. Explicit differential equations are derived to describe the rigid body motions that arise from rolling trajectories. The simplest wheel configuration that permits control of arbitrary rigid body motions is determined. The question of slippage due to a misalignment of the wheels is investigated based on a physical model of friction. Examples are presented to illustrate the models.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1987
Accession Number
ADA444372

Entities

People

  • J. C. Alexander
  • J. H. Maddocks

Organizations

  • University of Maryland

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Availability
  • Classification
  • Contracts
  • Cooperation
  • Differential Equations
  • Equations
  • Formulas (Mathematics)
  • Friction
  • Guarantees
  • Information Operations
  • Instructions
  • Kinematics
  • Maryland
  • Mathematics
  • Misalignment
  • Universities

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Adaptive Control and Estimation with Uncertainty in Dynamic Systems.
  • Aerodynamics/Aeronautics.
  • Tribology (the study of the boundary interaction between sliding surfaces, lubrication, wear and friction).

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • AI & ML - Autonomous Systems
  • AI & ML - Bayesian Inference
  • AI & ML - Machine Learning Algorithms
  • Autonomy