Adaptive tracking control of nonholonomic mobile robots by computed torque

A computed torque controller for a dynamic model of nonholonomic mobile robots with bounded external disturbance is proposed to treat the adaptive tracking control problem using the separated design method. A velocity controller is first designed for the kinematic steering system to make the tracking error approach zero asymptotically. Then, a computed torque controller is designed such that the true mobile robot velocity converges to the desired velocity controller. In each step, the controllers are designed independently, and this will simplify the controller design. Moreover, the regulation problem and the tracking problem will be treated using the proposed controller. In particular, the mobile robots can globally follow any path such as a straight line, a circle and the path approaching the origin. Furthermore, the problems of back-into-garage parking and the parallel parking problem can also be solved using the proposed controller. Some interesting simulation results are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed tracking control law.