Global position tracking control of an omni-directional mobile robot using fusion of a magnetic compass and encoders

This paper presents global position tracking control of an omni directional mobile robot(ODMR) using sensor fusion of a magnetic compass and encoders. The kinematics and the dynamics of the ODMR are derived based on the global coordinates other than on the local frame. The dead-reckoning of the ODMR relying on encoder measurements only can be overcome by the magnetic compass whose purpose is to compensate for an orientation angle error caused by wheel slip. Simulation results show the feasibility of the proposed control method. For experimental studies, the low pass filter has been designed to filter out noises from the magnetic compass sensor. Experimental studies are conducted to confirm the proposed method.