Supervised coverage control of multi-agent systems

In this paper, we consider a dynamic coverage problem for multi-agent systems, where the main objective of a group of mobile agents is to explore a given compact region. We propose a novel control scheme, where we introduce a supervisor that assists a group of agents with the centralized coverage control law and the global trajectory tracking control law. The coverage control law ensures the coverage task is done until the agents end up in local minima, and when they do, the global trajectory tracking control law ensures that the agents are deployed to uncovered regions. Our control scheme is designed to be decoupled such that only one control law is active at a given time. In addition to the coverage objective, we design control laws for coverage agents to avoid collisions and maintain proximity to a supervisor. Moreover, we utilize feedback linearization to use the proposed control scheme for coverage control of kinematic unicycle agents. We validate our approach via numerical simulations.     

Modeling and controlling a robotic convoy using guidance laws strategies.

This paper deals with the problem of modeling and controlling a robotic convoy. Guidance laws techniques are used to provide a mathematical formulation of the problem. The guidance laws used for this purpose are the velocity pursuit, the deviated pursuit, and the proportional navigation. The velocity pursuit equations model the robot's path under various sensors based control laws. A systematic study of the tracking problem based on this technique is undertaken. These guidance laws are applied to derive decentralized control laws for the angular and linear velocities. For the angular velocity, the control law is directly derived from the guidance laws after considering the relative kinematics equations between successive robots. The second control law maintains the distance between successive robots constant by controlling the linear velocity. This control law is derived by considering the kinematics equations between successive robots under the considered guidance law. Properties of the method are discussed and proven. Simulation results confirm the validity of our approach, as well as the validity of the properties of the method. Index Terms-Guidance laws, relative kinematics equations, robotic convoy, tracking.     

轮式移动机器人的位置量测输出反馈轨迹跟踪控制

针对机器人的姿态角难以精确测量的困难,本文研究基于位置测量的轮式移动机器人的轨迹跟踪问题.首先提出一种利用机器人的位置信息估计其姿态角的降维状态观测器,当机器人的线速度严格大于零时,可保证姿态角观测误差的指数收敛.然后给出一种新的状态反馈轨迹跟踪控制律,当参考轨迹满足一定的激励条件时,可以保证机器人的线速度严格大于零且跟踪误差全局渐近收敛.进一步结合姿态角观测器和状态反馈控制律,得到一种输出反馈轨迹跟踪控制算法.理论分析表明,当参考轨迹满足一定的激励条件时,所提出的输出反馈控制算法可以保证跟踪误差的全局渐近收敛.最后对所提出的姿态角观测器、状态反馈和输出反馈轨迹跟踪控制算法进行了仿真验证,证实了算法的有效性,并且当存在位置测量误差时,所提出的输出反馈轨迹跟踪控制算法仍可以保证机器人对参考轨迹的实际跟踪.     

Adaptive sliding mode trajectory tracking control for wheeled mobile robots

This paper discusses the problem of adaptive sliding mode trajectory tracking control for wheeled mobile robots in the presence of external disturbances and inertia uncertainties. A new fast nonsingular terminal sliding mode surface without any constraint is proposed, which not only avoids singularity, but also retains the advantages of sliding mode control. In order to implement the trajectory tracking mission, the error dynamic system is divided into a second-order subsystem and a third-order one. First, an adaptive fast nonsingular terminal sliding mode control law of the angular velocity is constructed for stabilising the second-order subsystem in finite time. Then, another adaptive fast nonsingular terminal sliding mode control law of the linear velocity is designed to guarantee the stability of the third-order subsystem. Finally, a simulation example is provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed control scheme.     

High accuracy path tracking for vehicles in presence of sliding: Application to farm vehicle automatic guidance for agricultural tasks

When designing an accurate automated guidance system for vehicles, a major problem is sliding and pseudo-sliding effects. This is especially the case in agricultural applications, where five-centimetre accuracy with respect to the desired trajectory is required, although the vehicles are moving on slippery ground. It has been established that RTK GPS was a very suitable sensor to achieve automated guidance with such high precision: several control laws have been designed for vehicles equipped with this sensor, and provide the expected guidance accuracy as long as the vehicles do not slide. In previous work, further control developments have been proposed to take sliding into account: guidance accuracy in slippery environments has been shown to be preserved, except transiently at the beginning/end of curves. In this paper, the design of this control law is first recalled and discussed. A Model Predictive Control method is then applied in order to preserve accuracy of guidance even during these curvature transitions. Finally, the overall control scheme is implemented, and improvements with respect to previous guidance laws are demonstrated through full-scale experiments.     

Bounded controllers for global path tracking control of unicycle-type mobile robots

This paper presents a design of bounded controllers with a predetermined bound for global path tracking control of unicycle-type mobile robots at the torque level. A new one-step ahead backstepping method is first introduced. The heading angle and linear velocity of the robots are then considered as immediate controls to force the position of the robots to globally and asymptotically track its reference path. These immediate controls are designed based on the one-step ahead backstepping method to yield bounded control laws. Next, the one-step ahead backstepping method is applied again to design bounded control torques of the robots with a pre-specified bound. The proposed control design ensures global asymptotical and local exponential convergence of the position and orientation tracking errors to zero, and bounded torques driving the robots. Experimental results on a Khepera mobile robot verify the proposed control controller.     

电液伺服系统的多滑模鲁棒自适应控制

针对一类参数与外负载非匹配不确定的非线性高阶系统,提出了一种基于逐步递推方法的多滑模鲁棒自适应控制策略.应用逐步递推的多滑模控制方法简化了高阶系统的控制问题,同时在自适应控制中加入鲁棒控制的方法,以消除不确定性对控制性能的影响.首先利用逐步递推方法与状态反馈精确线性化理论,得出确定系统的多滑模控制器设计方法;然后基于Lyapunov稳定性分析方法,给出不确定系统的参数自适应律,及鲁棒自适应控制器的设计方法.本文把该控制策略应用到电液伺服系统的位置跟踪控制中,仿真结果显示,该控制方法具有较强的鲁棒性及良好的跟踪效果.     

基于终端滑模机器人模糊自适应路径跟踪控制

对质心位置未知的移动机器人系统设计了基于快速终端滑模的模糊自适应路径跟踪控制方法。该方法采用模糊逻辑系统逼近控制器中的未知函数,基于李亚普诺夫稳定性分析方法对未知参数设计自适应律,并设计鲁棒控制器来补偿逼近误差。该方法不但可以保证闭环系统中的所有信号有界,而且可使跟踪误差在有限时间内收敛到原点的小邻域内。仿真结果验证了方法的有效性。     

具有输出/全状态约束的固定时间滑模控制

本文主要解决具有约束的二阶系统的固定时间跟踪控制问题,分别讨论了具有输出约束与具有全状态约束的控制算法设计.首先,为解决输出约束下的固定时间控制问题,本文构建了具有输出约束的新型终端滑模变量,并设计了具有扰动抑制能力的固定时间滑模控制律,保证系统输出始终满足约束条件,同时跟踪误差在固定时间内收敛到原点的充分小的邻域内.进一步,为了处理具有全状态约束的控制问题,本文构建了具有全状态约束的终端滑模变量并设计了相应的固定时间滑模控制律.鉴于系统控制律的不连续性,文章采用非光滑分析及Lyapunov稳定性理论证明了闭环控制系统的稳定性.最后,在数值仿真中,将本文提出的方法与传统固定时间滑模方法进行对比,验证了所建立算法的有效性.     

Tracking control of a class of differential inclusion systems via sliding mode technique

The tracking problem for a class of differential inclusion systems is investigated. Using global sliding mode control approach, a tracking control is proposed such that the output of a differential inclusion system tracks the desired trajectory asymptotically.An extensive reaching law is proposed to achieve the chattering reduction. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the validity of the proposed design.     

Adaptive sliding mode control of uncertain nonlinear systems with preassigned settling time and its applications

This paper investigates the adaptive tracking control of second‐order nonlinear systems with nonlinearly parameterized uncertainties and disturbances, as well as multiplicative uncertainty in the control coefficient matrix. A novel adaptive function augmented sliding mode control approach is proposed such that the tracking error converges to a neighborhood of zero with the preassigned size within the preassigned settling time. In the proposed control scheme, the control gains increase as the adaptive estimate values increase only when necessary, that is, when the current control gains are not big enough to suppress the uncertainties or disturbances; as a result, the conservativeness of control design caused by unnecessary high control gains can be effectively reduced. Moreover, the chattering phenomenon well known in the sliding mode control is eliminated by using the saturation function to replace the signum function, and the possible persistent increasing problem of the adaptive estimate values due to measurement disturbances or noises on the feedback is also well addressed by introducing “dead‐zone” nonlinearities in the adaptive laws. In addition, an improved method to construct the desired error trajectory is proposed, and this method could avoid the large undershoot‐like or overshoot‐like phenomena, which the traditional one may result in. The obtained results are finally applied to the motion control of the underwater vehicle and the rendezvous control of spacecraft, and the simulation results illustrate the effectiveness and the advantages of the proposed control approach.     

Robust formation tracking control of mobile robots via one-to-one time-varying communication

We solve the formation tracking control problem for mobile robots via linear control, under the assumption that each agent communicates only with one ‘leader’ robot and with one follower, hence forming a spanning-tree topology. We assume that the communication may be interrupted on intervals of time. As in the classical tracking control problem for non-holonomic systems, the swarm is driven by a fictitious robot which moves about freely and which is a leader to one robot only. Our control approach is decentralised and the control laws are linear with time-varying gains; in particular, this accounts for the case when position measurements may be lost over intervals of time. For both velocity-controlled and force-controlled systems, we establish uniform global exponential stability, hence consensus formation tracking, for the error system under a condition of persistency of excitation on the reference angular velocity of the virtual leader and on the control gains.     

基于Lyapunov方法和快速终端滑模的轨迹跟踪控制

针对移动机器人的运动学模型,提出一种具有全局渐近稳定性的跟踪控制器。该跟踪控制器的设计分为两部分：第一部分是采用全局快速终端滑动模态的思想设计了角速度的控制律,用来渐近镇定移动机器人跟踪的前向角误差;第二部分是采用Lyapunov方法设计了线速度的控制律,用来渐近镇定移动机器人跟踪的平面坐标误差。采用Lyapunov稳定性定理,证明了移动机器人在满足这些控制律条件下,实现了对参考轨迹的全局渐近跟踪。实验结果表明移动机器人能够有效地跟踪期望轨迹,有利于在实际应用中推广。     

Observer-based approximate optimal tracking control for time-delay systems with external disturbances

This paper proposes a successive approximation design approach of observer-based optimal tracking controllers for time-delay systems with external disturbances. To solve a two-point boundary value problem with time-delay and time-advance terms and obtain the optimal tracking control law, two sequences of vector differential equations are constructed first. Second, the convergence of the sequences of the vector differential equations is proved to guarantee the existence and uniqueness of the control law. Third, a design algorithm of the optimal tracking control law is presented and the physically realisable problem is addressed by designing a disturbance state observer and a reference input state observer. An example of an industrial electric heater is given to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.     

漂浮基空间机器人自适应RBF 网络终端滑模控制

主要研究漂浮基空间机器人对工作空间连续轨迹跟踪控制问题．针对系统动力学模型中非线性项未知，以及参数不确定性和外界扰动无法估计的情况，提出了基于自适应RBF网络终端滑模控制方法．该方法结合了非线性滑动流形与径向基函数特性，利用自适应RBF网络在线学习系统中的不确定性，使得无需精确的动力学模型亦能保证系统在有限时间内快速稳定．根据Lyapunov方法设计的自适应增益保证闭环控制系统具有全局稳定性，并且有效抑制抖振现象．针对6关节空间机器人的轨迹跟踪控制仿真表明，提出的自适应RBF网络终端滑模控制方法能够基于不完整动力学模型实现高精度轨迹跟踪，且误差在有限时间内快速收敛，系统抖振也得到了有效抑制．     

基于神经网络观测器的船舶轨迹跟踪递归滑模 动态面输出反馈控制

针对三自由度全驱动船舶速度向量不可测问题,考虑船舶模型参数和外部环境扰动均未知的情况,提出一种基于神经网络观测器的船舶轨迹跟踪递归滑模动态面输出反馈控制方法.该方法设计神经网络自适应观测器估计船舶速度向量,且利用神经网络逼近模型参数不确定项,综合考虑船舶位置和速度误差之间关系构造递归滑模面,再采用动态面控制技术设计轨迹跟踪控制律和参数自适应律,并引入低频增益学习方法消除外界扰动导致的高频振荡控制信号.选取李雅普诺夫函数证明了该控制律能够保证轨迹跟踪闭环系统内所有信号的一致最终有界性.最后,基于一艘供给船进行仿真验证,结果表明,船舶轨迹跟踪响应速度快,所设计控制器对系统模型参数摄动及外界扰动具有较强的鲁棒性.     

PD with sliding mode control for trajectory tracking of robotic system

Good tracking performance is very important for trajectory tracking control of robotic systems. In this paper, a new model-free control law, called PD with sliding mode control law or PD–SMC in short, is proposed for trajectory tracking control of multi-degree-of-freedom linear translational robotic systems. The new control law takes the advantages of the simplicity and easy design of PD control and the robustness of SMC to model uncertainty and parameter fluctuation, and avoid the requirements for known knowledge of the system dynamics associated with SMC. The proposed control has the features of linear control provided by PD control and nonlinear control contributed by SMC. In the proposed PD–SMC, PD control is used to stabilize the controlled system, while SMC is used to compensate the disturbance and uncertainty and reduce tracking errors dramatically. The stability analysis is conducted for the proposed PD–SMC law, and some guidelines for the selection of control parameters for PD–SMC are provided. Simulation results prove the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed PD–SMC. It is also shown that PD–SMC can achieve very good tracking performances compared to PD control under the uncertainties and varying load conditions.     

Trajectory tracking for an autonomous airship using fuzzy adaptive sliding mode control

We present a novel control approach for trajectory tracking of an autonomous airship.First,the dynamics model and the trajectory control problem of an airship are formulated.Second,the sliding mode control law is designed to track a time-varying reference trajectory.To achieve better control performance,fuzzy adaptive sliding mode control is proposed in which the control gains are tuned according to fuzzy rules,and an adaptation law is used to guarantee that the control gains can compensate for model uncertainties of the airship.The stability of the closed-loop control system is proven via the Lyapunov theorem.Finally,simulation results illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control scheme.     

Path‐following algorithms and experiments for an unmanned surface vehicle

This paper addresses the problem of path following in two‐dimensional space for underactuated unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), defining a set of guidance laws at the kinematic level. The proposed nonlinear Lyapunov‐based control law yields convergence of the path‐following error coordinates to zero. Furthermore, the introduction of a virtual controlled degree of freedom for the target to be followed on the path removes singularity behaviors present in other guidance algorithms proposed in the literature. Some heuristic approaches are then proposed to face the problem of speed of advance adaptation based on path curvature measurement and steering action prediction. Finally a set of experimental results of all the proposed guidance laws, carried out with the Charlie USV, demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed approach and the performance improvements, in terms of precision in following the reference path and transient reduction, obtained by introducing speed adaptation heuristics. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A control strategy for platoons of differential drive wheeled mobile robot

The strategy for the control of vehicle platooning is proposed and tested on different mobile robot platforms. The decentralized platooning is considered, i.e. a virtual train of vehicles where each vehicle is autonomous and decides on its motion based on its own perceptions. The following vehicle only has information about its distance and azimuth to the leading vehicle. Its position is determined using odometry. The reference position and the orientation of the following vehicle are determined by the estimated path of the leading vehicle in a parametric polynomial form. The parameters of the polynomials are determined using the least-squares method. This parametric reference path is also used to determine the feed-forward part and to suppress tracking errors by a feed-back part of the applied globally stable nonlinear control law. The results of the experiment and simulations demonstrate the applicability of the proposed algorithm for vehicle platoons.