Control Laws Design and Validation of Autonomous Mobile Robot Off-Road Trajectory Tracking Based on ADAMS and MATLAB Co-Simulation Platform

Autonomous automobile technology is a rapidly developing field, with interest in both academia and industry. Outdoor navigation of autonomous vehicles, especially for roughterrain driving, has already been a new research focus. DARPA Grand Challenge and LAGR program stand for the top development level in this research region. Rough-terrain driving research offers a challenge that the in-vehicle control system must be able to handle rough and curvy roads, and quickly varying terrain types, such as gravel, loose sand, and mud puddles – while stably tracking trajectories between closely spaced hazards. The vehicle must be able to recover from large disturbances, without intervention (Gabriel, 2007). Since robotics autonomous navigation tasks in outdoor environment can be effectively performed by skid-steering vehicles, these vehicles are being widely used in military affairs, academia research, space exploration, and so on. In reference (Luca, 1999), a model-based nonlinear controller is designed, following the dynamic feedback linearization paradigm. In reference (J.T. Economou, 2000), the authors applied experimental results to enable Fuzzy Logic modelling of the vehicle-ground interactions in an integrated manner. These results illustrate the complexity of systematic modeling the ground conditions and the necessity of using two variables in identifying the surface properties. In reference (Edward, 2001), the authors described relevant rover safety and health issues and presents an approach to maintaining vehicle safety in a navigational context. Fuzzy logic approaches to reasoning about safe attitude and traction management are presented. In reference (D. Lhomme-Desages, 2006), the authors introduced a modelbased control for fast autonomous mobile robots on soft soils. This control strategy takes into account slip and skid effects to extend the mobility over planar, granular soils. Different from above researches, which control the robots on the tarmac, grass, sand, gravel or soil, this chapter focuses on the motion control for skid-steering vehicles on the bumpy and rocklike terrain, and presents novel and effective trajectory tracking control methods, including the longitudinal, lateral, and sensors pan-tilt control law. Furthermore, based on ADAMS&MATLAB co-simulation platform, iRobot ATRV2 is