Finite-Time Control Based on Differential Flatness for Wheeled Mobile Robots with Experimental Validation

Abstract

A robust tracking control strategy is designed to empower wheeled mobile robots (WMRs) to track predetermined routes while operating in diverse fields and encountering disturbances like strong winds or uneven path conditions, which affect tracking performance. Ensuring the applicability of this tracking method in real-world scenarios is essential. To accomplish this, the WMR model is initially transformed into a linear canonical form by leveraging the differential flatness of its kinematic model, facilitating controller design. Subsequently, a novel integral nonlinear hyperplane-based sliding mode control (INH-SMC) technique is proposed for WMR under disturbances. The stability of the technique is analyzed and verified. Finally, its practical viability is demonstrated through a comparative real-world indoor experiment on a TurtleBot3 WMR subjected to disturbances, confirming the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed approach.