Numerical methods based controller design for mobile robots

This paper presents the design of four controllers for a mobile robot such that the system may follow a pre-established trajectory. To reach this aim, the kinematic model of a mobile robot is approximated using numerical methods. Then, from such approximation, the control actions to get a minimal tracking error are calculated. Both simulation and experimental results on a PIONEER 2DX mobile robot are presented, showing a good performance of the four proposed mobile robot controllers. Also, an application of the proposed controllers to a leader following problem is shown; in it, the relative position between robots is obtained through a laser.