Neural Networks in the Delayed Teleoperation of a Skid-Steering Robot

Abstract

Bilateral teleoperation of skid-steering mobile robots with time-varying delays presents significant challenges in ensuring accurate leader–follower coupling. This article presents a novel controller for a bilateral teleoperation system composed of a robot manipulator and a skid-steering mobile robot. The proposed controller leverages neural networks to compensate for ground–robot interactions, uncertain dynamics, and communication delays. The control strategy integrates a shared scheme between damping injection and two neural networks, enhancing the robustness and adaptability of the delayed system. A rigorous theoretical analysis of the closed-loop teleoperation system is provided, establishing conditions of control parameters to ensure stability and convergence of the coordination errors. The proposed method is validated through numerical testing, demonstrating strong agreement between theoretical outcomes and simulation results.