Differential flatness-based kinematic and dynamic control of a differentially driven wheeled mobile robot

In this paper, we present an integrated motion planning and control framework for control of a differentially driven wheeled mobile robot based on the differential flatness property exhibits in the models of the system. The goals of the paper are: (a) to present a simple online control method for wheeled mobile robot using both its kinematic and dynamic models (with the emphasis on dynamic model that has not been studied extensively), and (b) to illustrate the straight-forward manner of the controller design for easy implementation. It can be shown that the extension of the control from the kinematic to the dynamic model is straight-forward using the same flat outputs under the same diffeomorphism between the state/input space and the flat output space. Given that the application of such system is considerably ubiquitous recently, this paper is a reminder that a simple control method exists without too much effort in developing new dedicated controllers. The paper also serves as guide for practitioners who look for a straightforward lower-level robot controller so that they can concentrate on the higher level motion planning design.