Predictive Control of Actively Articulated Mobile Robots Crossing Irregular Terrains

This paper concerns the reconfiguration control of actively articulated mobile robots navigating through irregular terrains. Active mechanisms are able to accommodate for different operation conditions. The capability to influence mobility depends on the mechanism kinematic structure and the actuators velocity limitations. The robot mobility is evaluated considering ground clearance, orientation and stability. Control strategies are proposed considering the actuators bandwidth to compensate abrupt variations of the navigation trajectory and the driven terrain. The proposed solution consists on anticipating the command action by employing a predictive functional control method to adjust the robot for critical conditions faced during operation. Numerical simulations using field data, recorded while navigating on a natural terrain, are performed to verify the proposed strategies controlling a robot with two actuated DoF.