Investigation of trajectory tracking control algorithm for autonomous mobile platforms: Theory and simulation

This thesis considers the problem of trajectory tracking control design for autonomous underactuated mobile platforms. A solution to the problem of controlling these mobile platforms is proposed based on a way point guidance approach combined with a model reference trajectory control method. Our proposed tracking controller can be decomposed into two tasks: (i) a geometric task, which uses the model reference of converging the autonomous vehicles to the circle of acceptance of the way point and (ii) a dynamics assignment task, where the way point is assigned to a reference path with a speed profile that moves on the desired trajectory. At the same time the way point has its own dynamics for describing the motion, which is also associated with differential equations.; This paper also demonstrates the way point guidance approach combined with model reference control laws to provide the control objective to the problem of trajectory tracking. The proposed controller aims to provide a solution to the position tracking problem for a fairly general class of underactuated autonomous vehicles that is applicable to motion in two and three dimensional spaces. The main design strategy is to keep the control algorithm simple, robust, and model independent. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...