A robust tracking controller for mobile robots in the presence of uncertainties in the dynamical model, and its experimental validation

In this note the trajectory tracking problem for a wheeled mobile base has been addressed, considering the presence of uncertainties in the dynamical model. The proposed solution is based on discrete sliding mode control, in order to ensure both robustness and implementability of the controller. The asymptotic boundedness of the tracking errors has been theoretically proved. The proposed discrete time algorithm has been experimentally tested, performing the experiments on the LAB MATE vehicle available at the Robotics Lab of the University of Ancona, and compared with a kinematic controller proposed in the literature.