Nonholonomic Mobile Robot with Kinematic Disturbances in the Trajectory Tracking: A Variable Structure Controller

Abstract In this paper, a trajectory tracking control for a nonholonomic mobile robot subjected to kinematic disturbances is proposed. A variable structure controller based on the sliding mode theory is used, and applied to compensate these disturbances. To minimize the problems found in practical implementations of the classical variable structure controllers, and eliminate the chattering phenomenon a neural compensator is used, which is nonlinear and continuous, in lieu of the discontinuous portion of the control signals present in classical forms. The proposed neural compensator is designed by the Gaussian radial basis function neural networks modeling technique and does not require the time-consuming training process. Stability analysis is guaranteed based on the Lyapunov method. Simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.