Designed for planetary exploration,a spherical mobile robot BHQ-1 was briefly introduced.The mo-tion model of BHQ-1 was established and quasi-velocities were introduced to simplify some dynamic quan-tities.Based on the model,the time- and energy-based optimal trajectory of BHQ-1 was planned withHamiltonian function. The effects of three key coefficients on the shape and direction of the planned tra-jectory were discussed by simulations.Experimental result of the robot ability in avoiding an obstacle waspresented to validate the trajectory planning method.
This paper presents the controller design for the path following of a spherical mobile robot, BHQ-1. Firstly, a desired velocity for the reference path is deduced from the kinematic model, which cannot be transformed into the classic chained form. Secondly, a necessary torque for the desired velocity is obtained based on the dynamic model. As to the kinematics, a one-dimensional function is selected to measure the two-directional tracking error, and the velocity of rolling forward is reasonably assumed to be constant; therefore the multiple-input multiple-output （MIMO） system is transformed into a single-input single-output （SISO） system. As to the dynamics, both exact dynamics and inexact dynamics with modeling error as well as bounded unknown disturbance are taken into account, based on which a proportional-derivative （PD） controller and a sliding mode controller with adaptive parameters are proposed respectively. Finally, convergence analysis and simulation results are provided to validate these controllers.
Spherical robot has good static and dynamic stability, which provides it with strong viability in hostile environment, but the lack of effective control methods has hindered its application and development. This article deals with the dynamic trajectory tracking problem of the spherical robot BHQ-2 designed for unmanned environment exploration. The dynamic model of the spherical robot is established with a simplified Boltzmann-Hamel equation, based on which a trajectory tracking controller is designed by using the back-stepping method. The convergence of the controller is proved with the Lyapunov stability theory. Numerical simulations show that with the controller the robot can globally and asymptotically track desired trajectories, both linear and circular.
