Wall following control algorithm for a car-like wheeled-mobile robot with differential-wheels drive

A configuration wheeled mobile robot which is classified as car-like vehicle with a differential wheels drive is developed. The mobile robot is driven based upon differential wheels drive and rotating steer mechanism. The system configuration of mobile robot platform is designed including the necessary sensors and controller. The kinematic model of the mobile robot is derived and the control configuration is proposed. A wall following control algorithm for the robot is developed using the Lyapunov method. The state variables of the wall following model are the distance error from the position of mobile robot to a desired distance from the wall and the orientation error between the orientation of the mobile robot and the wall. The closed-loop system shows asymptotic stabilization of the origin of variables, which are distance and orientation of the mobile robot with respect to the wall. The control algorithm steers the mobile robot to move along the wall with a predetermined distance and zero orientation to the wall. The effectiveness of designed control algorithm is shown using simulation results.