Stabilization of Nonholonomic Robotic Systems Using Adaptation and Homogeneous Feedback

This paper considers the problem of stabilizing nonholonomic robotic systems in the presence of uncertainty regarding the system dynamic model. It is proposed that a simple and effective solution to this problem can be obtained by combining ideas from homogeneous system theory and adaptive control theory. Thus each of the proposed control systems consists of two subsystems: a (homogeneous) kinematic stabilization strategy which generates a desired velocity trajectory for the nonholonomic system, and an adaptive control scheme which ensures that this velocity trajectory is accurately tracked. This approach is shown to provide arbitrarily accurate stabilization to any desired configuration and can be implemented without knowledge of the system dynamic model. Moreover, it is demonstrated that exponential rates of convergence can be achieved with this methodology. The efficacy of the proposed stabilization strategies is illustrated through extensive computer simulations with nonholonomic robotic systems arising from explicit constraints on the system kinematics and from symmetries of the system dynamics.