Controllers Design for Differential Drive Mobile Robots based on Extended Kinematic Modeling

This paper presents the simulation results of the controllers design for differential-drive mobile robot (DDMR) using a novel modeling method, which is based on the inclusion of the sideway velocity into the kinematic modeling, in order to obtain a holonomic-like model. Next, non-holonomic constraint is introduced assuming that the sideway slipping is measurable. The controller design considers a variable position for the point of interest and takes into account also the robot constrained inputs. The obtained inverse kinematics controller is differentiable, time invariant and naturally incorporates the sideway slipping which is considered measurable. Moreover, the proposed controller can be used for both: trajectory tracking and path following by setting appropriate desired values at the planning stage. The Lyapunov theory is used to prove the stability of the control system. Simulator includes a robot dynamics module that supports physics engines. Obtained simulations results show a high performance for both tasks.