Optimal trajectory generation and flatness tracking control for a mobile robot

Abstract

This work proposes an optimal trajectory generation and a controller design for a mobile robot. The objective consists of creating a new performance guidance module for the mobile robot in a closed environment. The reference trajectory can be calculated by solving an optimization problem. The properties of the differential flatness, the B-spline and the direct collocation method are exploited to convert the constrained optimization problem into a nonlinear programming one that can be easily resolved by a classic solver. After that, the obtained optimal reference trajectory is used in the kinematic mobile robot model. A flatness-based controller is designed to ensure the trajectory tracking. The numerical simulations are done in order to evaluate the proposed optimal trajectory generation approach and the tracking strategy.