Control of articulated vehicle for mining applications: modeling and laboratory experiments

The paper presents the theoretical analysis and experimental results of path tracking control of a class of vehicles widely used in underground mining operations. A vehicle consists of the front and rear units hinged together, where each unit has only one pair of nonsteerable wheels. Steering is performed by changing the angle between the front and rear units by means of a (pair of) hydraulic cylinders (linear actuators). In operation this vehicle moves in either forward or backward directions. Path tracking control problem is of the main importance in order to follow the relatively narrow mining corridors. It consists of using the sensory information to measure the deviations in position and orientation from the path to be followed. Based upon these two tracking errors a feedback system must govern the appropriate steering action