Manipulative difficulty index of a mobile robot with multiple trailers in pushing and towing with imperfect measurement

Abstract

A quantitative evaluation method of manipulative difficulty for a tractor pushing or towing multiple trailers is introduced. A manipulative difficulty index (MDI) thinking about imperfect measurement is proposed. This difficulty varies if physical parameters such as the position of the joint or the number of the trailers is changed. The authors focus on this change when some state variables have measurement errors. Also, quantitative comparisons for typical examples of the change of physical parameters of tractor-trailers under the above case are presented.