Tethered mobile robot for automating highway maintenance operations

The use of a self-propelled mobile robot working in close proximity to a support vehicle for purposes of power, materials, etc. would be extremely valuable for highway maintenance and construction operations. This paper discusses the development of such a uniqe mobile robot system and emphasizes the robot's control system. The wheeled mobile robot is differentially steered and tethered to a support vehicle via a mechanical linkage which has position tracking capability. This mobile robot system has been termed the tethered mobile robot (TMR), and such an approach has the potential for use in a wide variety of highway maintenance operations. An optimal control system applicable to many highway maintenance operations is designed and implemented through the utilization of recently developed servo control technology. Experimental results presented show significant promise for the TMR system.