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. 2024 Apr 29;24(9):2849.
doi: 10.3390/s24092849.

Robust Tracking Control of Wheeled Mobile Robot Based on Differential Flatness and Sliding Active Disturbance Rejection Control: Simulations and Experiments

Amine Abadi  1 , Amani Ayeb  2 , Moussa Labbadi  3 , David Fofi  1 , Toufik Bakir  1 , Hassen Mekki  4
Affiliations

Robust Tracking Control of Wheeled Mobile Robot Based on Differential Flatness and Sliding Active Disturbance Rejection Control: Simulations and Experiments

Amine Abadi et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

This paper proposes a robust tracking control method for wheeled mobile robot (WMR) against uncertainties, including wind disturbances and slipping. Through the application of the differential flatness methodology, the under-actuated WMR model is transformed into a linear canonical form, simplifying the design of a stabilizing feedback controller. To handle uncertainties from wheel slip and wind disturbances, the proposed feedback controller uses sliding mode control (SMC). However, increased uncertainties lead to chattering in the SMC approach due to higher control inputs. To mitigate this, a boundary layer around the switching surface is introduced, implementing a continuous control law to reduce chattering. Although increasing the boundary layer thickness reduces chattering, it may compromise the robustness achieved by SMC. To address this challenge, an active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) is integrated with boundary layer sliding mode control. ADRC estimates lumped uncertainties via an extended state observer and eliminates them within the feedback loop. This combined feedback control method aims to achieve practical control and robust tracking performance. Stability properties of the closed-loop system are established using the Lyapunov theory. Finally, simulations and experimental results are conducted to compare and evaluate the efficiency of the proposed robust tracking controller against other existing control methods.

Keywords: active disturbance rejection control; differential flatness; extended state observer; sliding mode control; wheeled mobile robot.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Two-wheeled mobile robot.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Two-wheeled mobile robot subject to uncertainties.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mobile robot trajectory tracking control principle scheme.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Simulation tracking results of the wheeled mobile robot under the conditions of the first scenario.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Lumped disturbance affecting the x and y position channels in the context of the first scenario.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Control input applied to the wheeled mobile robot under the conditions of the first scenario.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Simulation tracking results of the wheeled mobile robot in the conditions of the second scenario.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Control input applied to the wheeled mobile robot under the conditions of the second scenario.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Lumped disturbance affecting the x and y position channels in the context of the second scenario.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Real-time trajectory tracking experiment.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Results of the wheeled mobile robot’s tracking under the conditions of the first experiment scenario.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Results of the wheeled mobile robot’s tracking under the conditions of the first experiment scenario.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Estimation values of the lumped disturbances under the conditions of the first experiment scenario.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Control torques applied to the right and left wheels to track the eight-shaped reference trajectory.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Results of the wheeled mobile robot’s tracking under the conditions of the second experiment scenario.
Figure 15
Figure 15
Estimated values of the lumped disturbances under the conditions of the second experiment scenario.
Figure 16
Figure 16
Control torques applied to the right and left wheels to track the Bézier reference trajectory.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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