Analysis of rotary brush control characteristics for a road sweeping robot vehicle

This paper discusses some aspects of brush control techniques for a concept of a novel semi-autonomous road sweeper. One of the main difficulties of developing such a robot sweeping vehicle is that the general characteristics of the sweeping brushes are not well known. This study employs a FE model that calculates the brush deformation to assist the controller design. Using the FE model some useful brush characteristics, such as the stiffness and the deformation geometry can be obtained. The analysis suggests that brush characteristics may vary significantly at different operating points and introduce considerable challenges to the servo control strategies. The FE modeling results may be utilized to predict these characteristics and to develop a more adaptive brush servo controller. A simulation of such a predictive brush controller is then introduced for road sweeping automation.