• 052355 - CONTROL OF MOBILE ROBOTS

The aim of this course is to introduce the student to the fundamental aspects of modeling and simulation, planning and control, for mobile robots and mobile manipulators.

The course covers the main aspects of mobile robotics and mobile manipulation, making reference to indoor, outdoor and off-road environments. Classical and advanced planning and control techniques are introduced.

At the end of the course, a case study is presented to show the application of planning and control methodologies to a realistic problem, emphasizing the role of mobile robotics and mobile manipulation in different fields of automation.

After the course, the student should be able to:

- describe and explain how the kinematic and dynamic behaviour of a mobile robot or a mobile manipulator can be represented using a mathematical model;

- describe and explain how a path/trajectory planning problem for a mobile robot or a mobile manipulator can be solved, possibly considering the robot model and a multi-robot scenario;

- describe and explain how a regulation or a trajectory tracking control system for a mobile robot or a mobile manipulator can be designed, using linear and nonlinear control techniques;

- develop a kinematic or a dynamic model of a mobile robot or a mobile manipulator, using suitable simulation tools;

- design the navigation system, i.e., a planning and a control algorithm, for a mobile robot or a mobile manipulator.

The course is structured in seven modules. Four core modules act as the foundations of the course, developing students’ understanding of key aspects of mobile robotics, i.e., kinematics, dynamics, planning and control. Three further modules build students’ understanding on how mobile robotics fit into the context of automation in many different application fields.

Module 1: Introduction

Applications of mobile robots in indoor, outdoor and off-road scenarios

Ground and aerial mobile manipulation

Classical problems of mobile robotics

Fundamentals of hardware, software and control architectures

Module 2: Kinematics of mobile robots

Kinematic configurations for indoor, outdoor, and off-road mobile robots

Holonomic and nonholonomic configurations

Kinematic models of mobile robots

Module 3: Dynamics of mobile robots

Fundamentals of dynamic modeling for mobile robotics

Wheel-ground interaction modeling for indoor, outdoor, and off-road applications

The stability problem for off-road robots and mobile manipulators

Fundamentals of mobile robot multi-body simulation

Module 4: Path/trajectory planning

Planning and control, a global and local perspective

Fundamentals of search based, sampling based, and model based planners

Planning in Cartesian and configuration space with sampling based techniques

Introducing robot kinodynamic and actuation constraints in the planning problem

Fundamentals of multi-robot planning

Module 5: Regulation and trajectory tracking

Exact linearization and flatness form of classical mobile robot models

Fundamentals of odometric localization

Trajectory tracking using linear and nonlinear control laws

Position and pose regulation problem

Regulation and trajectory tracking as optimization problems

Module 6: Mobile manipulation

Controlling a mobile robot and a manipulator as a whole system

Navigation and task execution: planning and control approaches

Fundamentals of coordination strategies for a fleet of mobile manipulators

Module 7: Case study

Mobile manipulation for precision farming

Students attending this course are expected to know basics of modelling of mechanical systems and automatic control.

The final assessment will be a written exam, consisting of both numerical exercises and theoretical questions.

In the written exam the student should be able to:

- write the kinematic model of a mobile robot, including holonomic and nonholonomic configurations;

- write the dynamic model of a mobile robot, including wheel-ground interaction;

- analyze the stability of an off-road mobile robot or mobile manipulator;

- describe and explain basic concepts and problems within path/trajectory planning, such as Cartesian/configuration space sampling based planning, kinodynamic planning, multi-robot planning;

- describe and explain basic concepts and problems within mobile robot trajectory tracking, such as linear and nonlinear trajectory tracking control, exact linearization, position and pose regulation, regulation and trajectory tracking using optimization techniques;

- design simple feedback control laws for regulation and trajectory tracking of mobile robots;

- describe and explain basic concepts and problems within mobile manipulation;

- give examples on applications of mobile robots and mobile manipulators in different application domains.

3rd Edition

3a Edizione