Application of robust control techniques to a mobile robot system

This article deals with the stabilization problem of a class of nonlinear second-order multivariable dynamical systems with bounded uncertainties. A robust discontinuous controller is proposed to guarantee asymptotic stability of this class of systems. Then, to guarantee the continuity of the control, a quasi-saturation function is introduced into the control law. Guaranteed eventual stability-in-the-large (ESL) of the dynamical systems is proved with the continuous, robust controller, which is much different from the standard “computed-torque control.” The controller requires known bounding functions that are easier to determine as well as more general than the bounds needed in other approaches. An application is given to trajectory-following control for a two-link mobile robot. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons Inc.