Implementation of factitious force method for control of 5R manipulator with skid-steering platform REX

In the paper implementation of the factitious force concept for a controlling complex mobile manipulator has been presented. As the nonholonomic constraint only lack of longitudinal slippage of wheels has been chosen - in skid-steering platforms lateral slippage is necessary to change orientation of such a platform. From a control theory point of view such a system is dynamically underactuated. As a solution to a underactuation problem a method of factitious force has been proposed. This method assumes extension on the dynamics level, in the form of an additional control inputs uv, which values are equal to zero equivalently. For a mobile manipulator, consisting of platform REX and 5R robotic onboard arm, a cascaded control law has been proposed. A simulation study was conducted for a mathematical model of a considered object with real values of physical parameters, i.e. lengths, masses, inertia moments etc. obtained from the 3D model. Results obtained in simulations have shown a proper action of the control system and convergence of tracking errors, occurring in a platform and in joints of a manipulator, to zero.