In this paper, a harmonic potential field method for dynamic environments is proposed to generate an on-line reference trajectory for a wheeled mobile robot. A sliding mode controller is used to make the robot move along the prescribed trajectory determined by the gradient lines. The potential field is modified on-line, in order to make the robot avoid the collision with obstacles which move al...

Applications of wheeled mobile robots have recently extended to service robots for the handicapped or the aged and industrial mobile robots working in various environments. The most popular wheeled mobile robots are equipped with two independent driving wheels. Since these robots possess 2 degrees-of-freedom (DOFs), they can rotate about any point, but cannot perform holonomic motion including ...

An integrated visual-based approach to motion planning and control of a nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot is presented. Vision is used to localize the obstacles and the robot and for real-time feedback control of the vehicle motion. An A∗based motion planner is used to search the discretized robot configuration space for collisionfree paths. Nonholonomic constraints are taken into account by pr...

In this paper the Wheeled Acrobot (WAcrobot), a novel mechanical system consisting of an underactuated double inverted pendulum robot (Acrobot) equipped with actuated wheels, is described. This underactuated and highly nonlinear system has potential applications in mobile manipulators and leg-wheeled robots. It is also a testbed for researchers studying advanced methodologies in nonlinear contr...

Roller-Walker is a leg-wheel hybrid mobile robot using a passive wheel equipped on the tip of each leg. The passive wheel can be transformed into sole mode by rotating the ankle roll joint when Roller-Walker walks on a rough terrain. This paper discusses energy efficiency of locomotion in wheeled mode. We define a leg trajectory to produce forward straight propulsion and discuss the relationshi...