Comparing Robot Controllers Through System Identification

In mobile robotics, it is common to find different control programs designed to achieve a particular robot task. It is often necessary to compare the performance of such controllers. So far this is usually done qualitatively, because of a lack of quantitative behaviour analysis methods. In this paper we present a novel approach to compare robot control codes quantitatively, based on system identification. Using the NARMAX system identification process, we “translate” the original behaviour into a transparent, analysable mathematical model of the original behaviour. We then use statistical methods and sensitivity analysis to compare models quantitatively. We demonstrate our approach by comparing two different robot control programs, which were designed to drive a Magellan Pro robot through door-like openings.