Path Following Control Problem for Wheeled Mobile Robots by Using Output Regulation Design

This paper studies the path following control problem for wheeled mobile robots with enhanced transient performance. The problem is formulated in the framework of output regulation design approach incorporating with the modified composite nonlinear feedback (CNF) strategy. The robot model is first linearized by the input-output linearization method, and then, by considering an exosystem as the virtual leader and its output as the given trajectory, the robots are treated as the followers. This in turn transforms the considered problem into the output regulation controller design such that the output of follower can asymptotically approach the trajectory given by the exosystem. Finally, the CNF control technique is further applied to improve the transient performance of path following problem. The simulations on the software MobileSim® developed by the MobileRobots company are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.