Path following with a robotic platform

Abstract

This paper considers path following control for a four-wheel steered robotic platform. The vehicle used for the experiments is a specially designed robotic platform for performing autonomous weed control. The robot uses RTK- DGPS to determine both position and orientation relative to the path. The deviation of the robot to the desired path is supplied to a high level controller that determines the setpoints of the wheel angles and wheel speeds. At low level each wheel angle is controlled by a P controller combined with a Smith predictor. Results are presented of a preliminary navigation test on a paving.