Path following of a class of non-holonomic mobile robot with underactuated vehicle body

A new dynamic model for a class of two-wheeled mobile robot (2WMR), whose mass centre locates below its wheel axis, is presented. The dynamic model considered as the motion of an underactuated vehicle body can represent the time-varying horizontal distance of the mass centre with respect to the configuration centre. This model can describe the dynamic behaviours of the robot more accurately. By the computed torque approach, a sliding mode controller based on the adaptive gain to overcome the disturbances of the system is proposed. Integrating with the velocity controller, the whole control system is made up of two closed-loop structures. The control algorithm efficiency is confirmed through simulation in the MATLAB environment.