Abstract
This paper considers path following control for a robotic platform. The vehicle used for the experiments is a specially designed robotic platform for performing autonomous weed control. The platform is four-wheel steered and four-wheel driven. A diesel engine powers the wheels via a hydraulic transmission. The robot uses a Real Time Kinematic Differential Global Positioning System to determine both position and orientation relative to the path. The deviation of the robot to the desired path is supplied to two high level controllers minimizing the orthogonal distance and orientation to the path. Wheel angle setpoints are determined from inversion of the kinematic model. At low level each wheel angle is controlled by a proportional controller combined with a Smith predictor. Results show the controller performance following different paths shapes including a step, a ramp, and a typical headland path. A refined tuning method calculates controller settings that let the robot drive as much as possible along the same path to its setpoint, but also limit the gains at higher speeds to prevent the closed loop system to become unstable due to the time delay in the system. Mean, minimum and maximum orthogonal distance errors while following a straight path on a paving at a speed of 0.5 m/s are 0.0, −2.4 and 3.0 cm respectively and the standard deviation is 1.2 cm. The control method for four wheel steered vehicles presented in this paper has the unique feature that it enables control of a user definable position relative to the robot frame and can deal with limitations on the wheel angles. The method is very well practical applicable for a manufacturer: all parameters needed are known by the manufacturer or can be determined easily, user settings have an easy interpretation and the only complex part can be supplied as a generic software module.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Find the latest articles, discoveries, and news in related topics.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bak, T., & Jakobsen, H. (2004). Agricultural robotic platform with four wheel steering for weed detection. Biosystems Engineering, 87(2), 125–136.
Bakker, T., Van Asselt, C. J., Bontsema, J., Müller, J., & Van Straten, G. (2008). Systematic design of an autonomous platform for robotic weeding. Journal of Terramechanics, 47(2), 63–73. doi:10.1016/j.jterra.2009.06.002.
Bendtsen, J., Andersen, P., & Pedersen, S. (2002). Robust feedback linearization-based control design for a wheeled mobile robot. In 6th international symposium on advanced vehicle control (AVEC ’02), Hiroshima, Japan.
Campion, G., Bastin, G., & D’Andra-Novel, B. (1996). Structural properties and classification of kinematic and dynamic models of wheeled mobile robots. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 12(1), 47–62.
Ge, J., & Ayers, P. D. (1991). Design of controllers for nonlinear electrohydraulic systems with time delays. Transactions of the ASAE, 34(3), 1016–1022.
Hague, T., & Tillett, N. D. (1996). Navigation and control of an autonomous horticultural robot. Mechatronics, 6(2), 165–180.
Skogestad, S. (2003). Simple analytic rules for model reduction and pid controller tuning. Journal of Process Control, 13(4), 291–309.
Sørensen, M. (2002). Modelling and control of wheeled farming robot. M.Sc. thesis, Aalborg University, Aalborg.
Stephanopoulos, G. (1984). Chemical process control. An introduction to theory and practice. London: Prentice/Hall International.
Van der Weide, R., Lotz, L. A. P., Bleeker, P., & Groeneveld, R. M. W. (2002). Het spanningsveld tussen beheren en beheersen van onkruiden op biologische bedrijven. In F. Wijnands, J. Schroder, W. Sukkel, & R. Booij (Eds.), Themaboek 303. Biologisch bedrijf onder de loep (pp. 129–138). Wageningen: Wageningen Universiteit.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
Bakker, T., van Asselt, K., Bontsema, J. et al. A path following algorithm for mobile robots. Auton Robot 29, 85–97 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-010-9182-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-010-9182-3