Stable fuzzy state space controllers for an AGV

The primary focus of this paper is on the development of an intelligent control scheme which is insensitive to parametric uncertainty and load and parameter fluctuations, and, most importantly, is amenable to real-time implementation. We present a stable, uncoupled, direct fuzzy PD/PI control scheme for an outdoor automatic guided vehicle (AGV), which is a converted electrically powered golf-car. The controller performance was assessed both through simulations and experimental results. It was established that the fuzzy logic controller (FLC) yielded good performance even under uncertain and variable parameters in the model, unlike the computed torque technique (CTT) or conventional PID control. In terms of real-time implementation, the availability of custom fuzzy chips and the reduced computational complexity of the fuzzy controller, as against that of the CTT, makes the fuzzy controller an ideal choice between the two schemes