Remote Tracking Control of Unicycle Robots with Network-Induced Delays

摘要

In this chapter, the tracking control problem for a unicycle-type mo-bile robot with network-induced delays is addressed. The time-delay affects the system due to the fact that the controller and the robot are linked via a delay-inducing communication channel, by which the performance and stability of the system are possibly compromised. In order to tackle the problem, a state estima-tor with a predictor-like structure is proposed. Acting in conjunction with a track-ing control law, the resulting control strategy is capable of stabilizing the system and compensates for the negative effects of the time-delay. The local uniform asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system is guaranteed up to a maximum admissible time-delay, for which explicit expressions are provided in terms of the system's control parameters. The applicability of the proposed estimator-control strategy is demonstrated by means of experiments carried out between multi-robot platforms located in Eindhoven, The Netherlands and Tokyo, Japan.