Minimum-energy cornering trajectory planning with self-rotation for three-wheeled omni-directional mobile robots

A minimum-energy cornering trajectory planning with self-rotation algorithm is investigated for three-wheeled omni-directional mobile robots (TOMRs). First, an generalized minimum-energy point-to-point trajectory planning algorithm is studied, which is obtained using Pontryagin’s minimum principle, a practical cost function as the energy drawn from the batteries to motors, and the accurate TOMR dynamic model including actuator dynamics and the Coriolis force. By analyzing the co-state equation, the minimum-energy rotational velocity trajectory is presented in analytic form. Also a novel algorithm for the minimum-energy translational velocity trajectory is investigated. Second, the minimum-energy cornering trajectory planning algorithm with self-rotation is developed. Simulation results show that the minimum-energy cornering trajectory can save energy up to 15.20%compared with the conventional control using trapezoidal velocity profiles, and up to 3.96 % compared with the loss-minimization control using the armature loss as the cost function. Also a resolved-acceleration controller is implemented to show an actual performance.

     

Minimum-Energy Trajectory Generation for Cornering with a Fixed Heading for Three-Wheeled Omni-Directional Mobile Robots

The minimum-energy trajectory generation problem of cornering with a fixed heading is solved for three-wheeled omni-directional mobile robots (TOMRs). To maximize the total operation time of a mobile robot with carried batteries having finite energy, we have chosen a practical cost function to be the total energy drawn from the batteries. Then, we formulate the minimum-energy trajectory generation problem of executing a cornering motion with a fixed heading for TOMRs with given dynamics including actuator motors. The optimal control theory using a Hamiltonian function and a numerical method are used to obtain the minimum-energy trajectory, which gives the velocity profile in analytic form. Performance analyses are conducted with various simulations and the consumed energy using obtained minimum-energy trajectory is compared with a typical conventional trajectory with a trapezoidal velocity profile, which reveals that an energy savings of up to 18.7 % is achieved. To validate the actual performance of our trajectory, we implemented and tested an accurate trajectory following system which utilizes a resolved acceleration controller.     

Energy-optimal gait analysis of quadruped robots

It is important for walking robots such as quadruped robots to have an efficient gait. Since animals and insects are the basic models for most walking robots, their walking patterns are good examples. In this study, the walking energy consumption of a quadruped robot is analyzed and compared with natural animal gaits. Genetic algorithms have been applied to obtain the energy-optimal gait when the quadruped robot is walking with a set velocity. In this method, an individual in a population represents the walking pattern of the quadruped robot. The gait (individual) which consumes the least energy is considered to be the best gait (individual) in this study. The energy-optimal gait is analyzed at several walking velocities, since the amount of walking energy consumption changes if the walking velocity of the robot is changed. The results of this study can be used to decide what type of gait should be generated for a quadruped robot as its walking velocity changes. This work was presented, in part, at the Sixth International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Tokyo, Japan, January 15–17, 2001.     

用小波插值方法实现移动机器人的轨迹追踪控制

基于动力学模型方程，利用小波插值方法，对移动机器人的轨迹追踪控制问题，给出了一种新的方法．该方法在有限时间内，实现了转动速度、前进速度均不为零的期望轨迹追踪．它的突出特点是计算量小、方法简单，期望轨迹可为任意复杂的非线性曲线．在仿真实验里，取得了理想的效果．     

Independent traction control for uneven terrain using stick-slip phenomenon: application to a stair climbing robot

Mobile robots are being developed for building inspection and security, military reconnaissance, and planetary exploration. In such applications, the robot is expected to encounter rough terrain. In rough terrain, it is important for mobile robots to maintain adequate traction as excessive wheel slip causes the robot to lose mobility or even be trapped. This paper proposes a traction control algorithm that can be independently implemented to each wheel without requiring extra sensors and devices compared with standard velocity control methods. The algorithm estimates the stick-slip of the wheels based on estimation of angular acceleration. Thus, the traction force induced by torque of wheel converses between the maximum static friction and kinetic friction. Simulations and experiments are performed to validate the algorithm. The proposed traction control algorithm yielded a 40.5% reduction of total slip distance and 25.6% reduction of power consumption compared with the standard velocity control method. Furthermore, the algorithm does not require a complex wheel-soil interaction model or optimization of robot kinematics.     

考虑运动受限的履带式移动机器人轨迹跟踪控制

针对履带式移动机器人的轨迹跟踪控制问题进行研究,首先,建立了履带式移动机器人的运动学模型和跟踪误差模型;其次,设计了转速有限时间控制和线速度滑模控制的轨迹跟踪控制律,并给出了考虑运动受限作用下的控制律修正表达式;最后,基于MATLAB对所提控制律进行仿真,对比分析了不考虑运动受限情况下跟踪控制效果;结果表明,设计的跟踪控制律能够实现履带式移动机器人对圆轨迹的有效跟踪,且考虑运动受限作用的控制律更加符合实际;文章研究分析了运动受限作用对于移动机器人轨迹跟踪控制的影响,分析结果对其他移动机器人的运动控制研究具有参考价值。     

非完整约束轮式移动机器人人工场导向控制研究

导向控制在非完整约束轮式移动机器人的运动控制中具有重要作用.该文通过建立人 工场的方法来引导和控制方向角,通过辅助的线速度控制前进或后退,以获取最佳收敛路径.同 时考虑到实际系统速度饱和限制,从而设计出一种新的非连续位姿镇定律.并将该结果扩展,使 得平面内任意点-点镇定、轨迹跟踪和路径跟踪问题均可得以实现,且对于跟踪问题仅需知道期 望位姿,所得控制器不仅设计简单、鲁棒性强、收敛速度快,还具有一定的普遍性.     

Velocity control of wheeled mobile robots using computed torque control and its performance for a differentially driven robot

This article presents the development of a Computed Torque Control (CTC) scheme for Cartesian velocity control of Wheeled Mobile Robots (WMRs). The literature presents extensive study on the need and suitability of the CTC scheme for robot arms. Many researchers have identified the benefits of using a CTC scheme for mobile robots. There is however very little information on CTC schemes for controlling mobile robots. The need for the CTC scheme stems from the fact that mobile robots (industrial AGVs) employing conventional velocity control schemes experience side slip due to suspended loads while negotiating curves, and the controller gains and accelerations need to be modified for changes in the dynamics. The structure of the proposed control scheme can be employed to control any mobile robot for which an inverse dynamic model exists, as a CTC scheme requires an inverse dynamic model to compute unique values for the motor current for a given trajectory. It is demonstrated that the existence of the inverse dynamic model is guaranteed for all differentially driven WMRs for all operating conditions, and is not affected by the number of castor wheels in the WMR. In the proposed CTC scheme, the linear and angular velocities of the WMR are controlled by adjusting the WMR accelerations, which are computed based on the motor torques required to follow a given trajectory. The motor torque is pre-computed based on a dynamic model of the mobile robotic system. The simulation and experimental results presented for a differentially driven WMR demonstrate that a computed-torque control scheme provides adaptive cruising and steering control for nominally tuned controller gains compared to a conventional velocity controller to achieve proper road following in the presence of changes in the dynamics. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

基于人工神经网络实现智能机器人的避障轨迹控制

利用人工神经网络中的二级BP网，模拟智能机器人的两控制参数(左、右轮速）间的 函数关系，实现避障轨迹为圆弧或椭圆弧的轨迹控制，并且通过调整椭圆长、短轴大小，能 实现多个及多层障碍物的避障控制．该方法的突出特点是方法简单、算法容易实现，使机器 人完成多个及多层避障动作时，不滞后于动态环境里其它机器人（障碍物）位置的变化．在 仿真实验中，取得了理想的效果．     

Leader–follower formation control of nonholonomic mobile robots based on a bioinspired neurodynamic based approach

This paper investigates the leader–follower formation control problem for nonholonomic mobile robots based on a bioinspired neurodynamics based approach. The trajectory tracking control for a single nonholonomic mobile robot is extended to the formation control for multiple nonholonomic mobile robots based on the backstepping technique, in which the follower can track its real-time leader by the proposed kinematic controller. An auxiliary angular velocity control law is proposed to guarantee the global asymptotic stability of the followers and to further guarantee the local asymptotic stability of the entire formation. Also a bioinspired neurodynamics based approach is further developed to solve the impractical velocity jumps problem. The rigorous proofs are given by using Lyapunov theory. Simulations are also given to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical results.     

一种多非完整移动机器人分布式编队控制方法

本文研究了多非完整移动机器人编队控制算法。在该算法中,参考轨迹被视为虚拟领导者,只有部分机器人可以接收到领导者信息,机器人之间只能进行局部信息交互。利用坐标变换将机器人系统的编队问题转化为变换后系统的一致性问题,在持续激励的条件下,设计了一种分布式控制算法,通过图论与Lyapunov 理论证明了该分布式控制算法可以使移动机器人队伍指数收敛于期望队形,并使队形的几何中心指数收敛到参考轨迹。最后,数值仿真验证了该控制算法的有效性。     

多路径段平滑过渡的自适应前瞻位姿插补算法

任务空间多路径段平滑过渡可提高工业机器人的运动速度.在非对称S曲线加减速控制的路径长度约束下,以给定速度不为零的路径衔接点和半径调节参数为基准,根据路径段的长度变化,自适应前瞻规划出路径段间最优衔接速度,并在相邻路径段间采用圆弧进行平滑过渡,路径段全程采用非对称S曲线加减速控制.为提高算法的通用性,根据S曲线加减速区段函数的特点,对加速和减速区段函数进行优化.在6自由度工业机器人实时控制系统平台上进行实验验证,结果表明,与传统加减速控制算法相比,该前瞻算法的作业执行效率可提高22.03%以上,并可实现多路径段间速度的平滑过渡和轨迹的修形.     

Real-time Velocity Alteration Strategy for Collision-free Trajectory Planning of Two Articulated Robot Manipulators

Two articulated robots working in a shared workspace can be programmed by planning the tip trajectory of each robot independently. To account for collision avoidance between links, a real-time velocity alteration strategy based on fast and accurate collision detection is proposed in this paper to determine the step of next motion of slave (low priority) robot for collision-free trajectory planning of two robots with priorities. The effectiveness of the method depends largely on a newly developed method of accurate estimate of distance between links. By using the enclosing and enclosed ellipsoids representations of polyhedral models of links of robots, the minimum distance estimate and collision detection between the links can be performed more efficiently and accurately. The proposed strategy is implemented in an environment where the geometric paths of robots are pre-planned and the preprogrammed velocities are piecewise constant but adjustable. Under the control of the proposed strategy, the master robot always moves at a constant speed. The slave robot moves at the selected velocity, selected by a tradeoff between collision trend index and velocity reduction in one collision checking time, to keep moving as far as possible and as fast as possible while avoid possible collisions along the path. The collision trend index is a fusion of distance and relative velocity between links of two robots to reflect the possibility of collision at present and in the future. Graphic simulations of two PUMA560 robot arms working in common workspace but with independent goals are conducted. Simulations demonstrate the collision avoidance capability of the proposed approach as compared to the approach based on bounding volumes. It shows that advantage of our approach is less number of speed alterations required to react to potential collisions.     

移动机器人轨迹跟踪的参数自校正控制

根据移动机器人运动学模型,对两轮移动机器人的轨迹跟踪问题进行了研究。在动态反馈线性化的基础上,采用基于广义最小方差法实现参数的自校正并设计控制器,考虑到机器人的动力学约束,采取对移动机器人的线速度和角速度加以限制的控制策略,保证机器人的运动平滑。仿真结果表明了该方法的有效性和正确性。     

Variable structure control for a wheeled mobile robot

This paper is concerned with a robust control for wheeled mobile robots. Mobile robots equipped with undeformable wheels are referred to as 'wheeled mobile robots' and constitute a typical example of non-holonomic systems, where the standard control algorithms developed for robotic manipulators without constraints are no longer applicable. It is shown using the formulation of a dynamic feedback linearization (DFL) methodology that a robust sliding mode controller is an efficient design tool to take into account stabilization and tracking control problems. Compared with previous studies based on DFL, the proposed method shows improvement of the trajectory tracking and stabilization process. The robustness is guaranteed in the presence of parameter uncertainty or unmodeled dynamics by the robust sliding mode control technique. Simulation results along with the conclusions drawn are discussed.     

一种基于测地线的机器人轨迹规划方法

提出了一种基于测地线的机器人轨迹规划方法.该方法克服了传统的轨迹规划方法的某些不足,其规划是在关节空间(黎曼空间)内进行的,规划目标是直角坐标空间内的直线,即两点之间的最短路径,也可以是系统动能最小,或某项综合指标最优.该规划方法直接得到机器人的各关节的转角和角速度,无需进行运动学反解和多项式插值.本文的基于测地线的轨迹规划是以轨迹弧长作为参考变量的,因此它还具有非时间参考的机器人轨迹规 划的优点.􀁱     

Optimal Trajectory Planning for Wheeled Mobile Robots Based on Kinematics Singularity

This research introduces a new optimality criterion for motion planning of wheeled mobile robots based on a cost index that assesses the nearness to singularity of forward and inverse kinematic models. Slip motions, infinite estimation error and impossible control actions are avoided escaping from singularities. In addition, high amplification of wheel velocity errors and high wheel velocity values are also avoided by moving far from the singularity. The proposed cost index can be used directly to complement path-planning and motion-planning techniques (e.g. tree graphs, roadmaps, etc.) in order to select the optimal collision-free path or trajectory among several possible solutions. To illustrate the applications of the proposed approach, an industrial forklift, equivalent to a tricycle-like mobile robot, is considered in a simulated environment. In particular, several results are validated for the proposed optimality criterion, which are extensively compared to those obtained with other classical optimality criteria, such as shortest-path, time-optimal and minimum-energy.     

PID landing orbit motion controller for an indoor blimp robot

Blimp robots are attractive as indoor flying robots because they can float in the air, land safely with low energy, and stay in motion for a long time compared with other flying robots. However, controlling blimp robots is difficult because they have nonlinear characteristics, are influenced by air streams, and can easily be influenced by inertia. Therefore, a robust and adaptive control system is needed for blimp robots. The applied research that has studied the features of indoor flying robots in recent years has prospered. Operating an indoor blimp robot for a long time is difficult because the payload is small, multiple batteries cannot be stacked, and the design of a thruster that gives freedom to the entire blimp robot is difficult. Therefore, an autonomous charge that allows operation for a long time is needed. We have developed a method of landing with orbital control of the charge point that gives autonomy to a blimp robot. The possibility of landing with orbital control is shown. This work was presented in part at the 10th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, February 4–6, 2005 An erratum to this article is available at .     

基于速度空间的移动机器人同时避障和轨迹跟踪方法

针对有障碍物环境下非完整轮式 移动机器人的轨迹跟踪问题,提出一种基于速度空间的同时避障和轨迹跟踪方法(VSTTM).首先,根据机器人 的动力学特性构建速度空间,得到由速度元组构成的控制集;然后,构造目标函数并对各控制量进行 评价,其中跟踪误差评价函数评估跟踪效果,碰撞检测函数检测是否发生碰撞,终端状态惩罚项保证 算法的稳定性;最后,通过优化过程找到最优的无碰控制量.仿真结果表明了所提出方法的有效性.     

Energy-optimal trajectory planning for car-like robots

When a battery-powered robot needs to operate for a long period of time, optimizing its energy consumption becomes critical. Driving motors are a major source of power consumption for mobile robots. In this paper, we study the problem of finding optimal paths and velocity profiles for car-like robots so as to minimize the energy consumed during motion. We start with an established model for energy consumption of DC motors. We first study the problem of finding the energy optimal velocity profiles, given a path for the robot. We present closed form solutions for the unconstrained case and for the case where there is a bound on maximum velocity. We then study a general problem of finding an energy optimal path along with a velocity profile, given a starting and goal position and orientation for the robot. Along the path, the instantaneous velocity of the robot may be bounded as a function of its turning radius, which in turn affects the energy consumption. Unlike minimum length paths, minimum energy paths may contain circular segments of varying radii. We show how to efficiently construct a graph which generalizes Dubins’ paths by including segments with arbitrary radii. Our algorithm uses the closed-form solution for the optimal velocity profiles as a subroutine to find the minimum energy trajectories, up to a fine discretization. We investigate the structure of energy-optimal paths and highlight instances where these paths deviate from the minimum length Dubins’ curves. In addition, we present a calibration method to find energy model parameters. Finally, we present results from experiments conducted on a custom-built robot for following optimal velocity profiles.