Adaptive control of frictional contact models for nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot

Mobility of the robot depends on the vehicle dimensions, locomotion principles and wheel characteristics. The function of the wheel is to carry the load and to produce the traction force. The main factors of wheel terrain interaction are bearing capacity of ground, traction performance of the wheel and geometry of terrain profile. In this paper the system and control concepts of the wheeled robot is discussed in more detail, within the framework provided by the wheel terrain contact model. The dynamic model of the wheeled robot is presented by considering contact forces of the wheel due to their relative motion of the wheel and contact plane. Finally, a dynamic relation is introduced and results are presented in terms of forces, torques and displacements related to wheel terrain interaction. To estimate the forces in the system arising from the interaction between a deformable wheel and rigid terrain using the software package Ansys 10.0. Simulations were performed using Matlab- Simulink program and the results are shown that the proposed controller can overcome the influences the effect of contact forces in order to achieve the desired trajectory.