3 ETH Lecture Mobile Robots Kinematics Add Ons 2021 RS

ASL
Autonomous Systems Lab
Spring 2021
Mobile Robot Kinematics

Autonomous Mobile Robots
Roland Siegwart, Margarita Chli, Nick Lawrance

Roland Siegwart, Margarita Chli, Nick Lawrance 2021 | Mobile Robots Kinematics - add ons | 1
ASL
Mobile Robot Kinematics | Overview
 Manipulator arms versus mobile robots

 Robot arms are fixed to the ground and usually comprised of a single chain of actuated links
 The motion of mobile robots is defined through rolling and sliding constraints taking effect at
the wheel-ground contact points
Ride an ABB, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxbjZiKAZP4 C Willow Garage

ASL
Mobile Robot Kinematics | Overview
 Manipulator arms versus mobile robots

 Both are concerned with forward and inverse (backward) kinematics
 However, for mobile robots, encoder values don‘t map to unique robot poses
 And mobile robots can move unbound with respect to their environment
 There is no direct (=instantaneous) way to measure the robot’s position (end-effector)
 Robot positions must be integrated over time and depend on the path taken
 This leads to inaccuracies of the position (motion) estimate
 Understanding mobile robot motion starts with understanding wheel constraints placed on
the robot’s mobility

ASL
Non-Holonomic Systems
 Non-holonomic systems
 differential equations are not directly integrable to the final position.
 the measure of the traveled distance of each wheel is not sufficient to calculate the final
position of the robot. One has also to know how this movement was executed as a function
of time. yI x1, y1
 This is in strong contrast to actuator arms
s1  s 2 , s1 R  s 2 R , s1 L  s 2 L s1L s1 s1R
x1 x2 , y1 y 2 s2L x2, y2

s2
s2R
Autonomous Mobile Robots xI

ASL
Forward and Inverse Kinematics
 Forward kinematics:
 Transformation from joint to physical space
 Inverse kinematics
 Transformation from physical to joint space
 Required for motion control
 Due to non-holonomic constraints in mobile robotics, we deal with differential
(inverse) kinematics
 Transformation between velocities instead of positions
 Such a differential kinematic model of a robot has the following form:
𝑣, 𝜔 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝜃
Robot Model
Autonomous Mobile Robots Control law

ASL
Mobile Robots with Wheels
 Stability of a vehicle is be guaranteed with 3 wheels

 If center of gravity is within the triangle which is formed by the
ground contact point of the wheels
 Stability is improved by 4 and more wheel
 however, this arrangements are hyper static and require a flexible
suspension system.
 Selection of wheels depends on the application
 Bigger wheels allow to overcome higher obstacles
 but they require higher torque or reductions in the gear box.
 Most arrangements are non-holonomic (see chapter 3)
 require high control effort
 Combining actuation and steering on one wheel makes the
design complex and adds additional errors for odometry.
ASL
Different Arrangements of Wheels
 Two wheels COG below axle
 Three wheels
Omnidirectional Drive Synchro Drive
 Four wheels
Synchro Drive
 Six wheels © J. Borenstein

ASL
Kinematic Constraints | Fixed Standard Wheel
.
y
. v=r
.

.
x 2021 | Mobile Robots Kinematics - add ons | 8
. 
3 - Mobile Robot Kinematics ASL
l) Autonomous Systems Lab
. .
l)cos (l)sin
Robot chassis
A
.
y
. .
y sin v=r
.
x cos l
.

 .
. x
y (cos
.
x sin 𝜉 𝑥 𝑦 𝜃
Rolling constraint →

Sliding constraint → 2021 | Mobile Robots Kinematics - add ons | 9
ASL
Five Basic Types of Three-Wheel Configurations

ASL
Wheeled Robot for Rough Terrain | Concepts for Object Climbing
 Purely friction based
Change of center of Adapted

gravity suspension mechanism with
(CoG) passive or active joints
ASL
Wheeled Robot for Rough Terrains | Articulated Suspensions
 Passive adaptation to terrain

 6 wheels with articulated suspensions
 two boogies on each side
 fixed wheel in the rear
 front wheel with spring
suspension
 Dimensions
 length: 60 cm
 height: 20 cm
 Characteristics
 highly stable in rough terrain
 overcomes obstacles up to Shrimp (ASL EPFL/ETH)
2 times its wheel diameter

ASL
Wheeled Robots | beyond flat ground
Vertigo – developed by students

| the ultimate wall climber
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRYT2kYbgo4
Ascento
| the balancing jumper
https://youtu.be/1yvoZhRTX-U

ASL
Wheeled Mobile Robot Motion Control | Overview
 The objective of a kinematic controller (not considering dynamics) is to follow a

trajectory described by its position and/or velocity profiles as function of time.
 Motion control is not straight forward because mobile robots are typically non-
holonomic and MIMO systems.
 Most controllers (including the one presented here) are not considering the
dynamics of the system

ASL
Motion Control | Open Loop Control
 Trajectory (path) divided in motion segments

of clearly defined shape:
 straight lines and segments of a circle
 Dubins car, and Reeds-Shepp car
 Control problem:
 pre-compute a smooth trajectory
based on lines, circles (and clothoids) segments
 Disadvantages:
 It is not at all an easy task to pre-compute a feasible trajectory
 limitations and constraints of the robot’s velocities and accelerations
 does not adapt or correct the trajectory if dynamical changes
of the environment occur.
 The resulting trajectories are usually not smooth (in acceleration, jerk, etc.)
ASL
Motion Control | Closed Loop Feedback Control
 Find a control matrix 𝐾, if exists

𝑘 𝑘 𝑘
𝐾
𝑘 𝑘 𝑘
with 𝑘 𝑘 𝑡, 𝑒
such that the control of v(t) and (t)
𝑥
𝑣 𝑡
𝐾·𝑒 𝐾· 𝑦
𝜔 𝑡
𝜃
lim 𝑒 𝑡 =0 𝑣, 𝜔
Robot Model
𝑥, 𝑦, 𝜃
→
drives the error 𝑒 to zero

→ MIMO state feedback control Control law
ASL
Motion Control | Kinematic Position Control
 The kinematics of a differential drive mobile

robot described in the inertial frame 𝑥 , 𝑦 , 𝜃
is given by,
𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 0 𝑣 ∆𝑦
𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 0 𝜔
𝜃 0 1
∆𝑥
 where 𝑥 and 𝑦 are the linear velocities in the direction

of the 𝑥 and 𝑦 of the inertial frame.
 Let 𝛼 denote the angle between the 𝑥 axis of the robot reference frame and
the vector connecting the center of the axle of the wheels with the final
position.
ASL
Kinematic Position Control | Coordinates Transformation
 Coordinate transformation into polar coordinates with its origin

at goal position:
𝜌 ∆𝑥 ∆𝑦
𝛼 𝜃 atan 2 ∆𝑦, ∆𝑥 𝑦
𝛽 𝜃 𝛼
 System description, in the new polar coordinates 𝑥
cos 𝛼 0 cos 𝛼 0
𝜌 𝜌
𝟏 𝑣 𝟏 𝑣
𝛼 and 𝛼
𝜔 𝜔
𝛽 0 𝛽 0
for 𝛼 ∈ 𝐼 , for 𝛼 ∈ 𝐼 𝜋, ∪ ,𝜋 → 𝑣 𝑣

ASL
Kinematic Position Control | Coordinates Transformation
 The coordinates transformation is not defined at 𝑥 𝑦 0

→ Stop controller very close to the goal
 For 𝛼 ∈ 𝐼 the forward direction

∆𝑦
of the robot points toward the goal,
for 𝛼 ∈ 𝐼 it is the backward direction.
with 𝛼 ∈ 𝐼 , and 𝛼 ∈ 𝐼 𝜋, ∪ ,𝜋 ∆𝑥
 By properly defining the forward direction of the robot at its initial configuration,
it is always possible to have 𝛼 ∈ 𝐼 at 𝑡 0. However, this does not mean that
𝛼 remains in 𝐼 for all time 𝑡.

ASL
Kinematic Position Control | The Control Law
 It can be shown, that with 𝑣 𝑘 𝜌 and 𝜔 𝑘 𝛼 𝑘 𝛽
the feedback-controlled system

𝜌 𝑘 𝜌 cos 𝛼
𝛼 𝑘 sin 𝛼 𝑘 𝛼 𝑘 𝛽 𝑦
𝛽 𝑘 sin 𝛼
𝑥
will drive the robot to 𝜌, 𝛼, 𝛽 0,0,0

 The control signal 𝑣 has thereby always constant sign:
 the direction of movement is kept positive or negative during movement
 parking maneuver is performed always in the most natural way and without ever inverting its
motion direction.
ASL
Kinematic Position Control | Resulting Path
 The goal is in the center and the initial position on the circle. 𝑦
𝜶∈𝑰 /
𝜋 𝜋
𝐼 ,
2 2
→ forward pointing to goal
𝐼 𝜋, ∪ ,𝜋
→ backward pointing to goal

𝑘 𝑘 ,𝑘 ,𝑘 3, 8, 1.5 2021 | Mobile Robots Kinematics - add ons | 21

3 ETH Lecture Mobile Robots Kinematics Add Ons 2021 RS

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ASL

Autonomous Systems Lab

Mobile Robot Kinematics

Roland Siegwart, Margarita Chli, Nick Lawrance

Autonomous Mobile Robots

Mobile Robot Kinematics | Overview

 Manipulator arms versus mobile robots

Ride an ABB, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxbjZiKAZP4 C Willow Garage

Mobile Robot Kinematics | Overview

 Manipulator arms versus mobile robots

Autonomous Mobile Robots

x1 x2 , y1 y 2 s2L x2, y2

Autonomous Mobile Robots xI

Forward and Inverse Kinematics

Autonomous Mobile Robots Control law

Mobile Robots with Wheels

 Stability of a vehicle is be guaranteed with 3 wheels

Different Arrangements of Wheels

 Two wheels COG below axle

Omnidirectional Drive Synchro Drive

Autonomous Mobile Robots

Kinematic Constraints | Fixed Standard Wheel

Autonomous Mobile Robots

Five Basic Types of Three-Wheel Configurations

Autonomous Mobile Robots

Wheeled Robot for Rough Terrain | Concepts for Object Climbing

 Purely friction based

Change of center of Adapted

Wheeled Robot for Rough Terrains | Articulated Suspensions

 Passive adaptation to terrain

Autonomous Mobile Robots

Wheeled Robots | beyond flat ground

Vertigo – developed by students

Autonomous Mobile Robots

Wheeled Mobile Robot Motion Control | Overview

 The objective of a kinematic controller (not considering dynamics) is to follow a

Autonomous Mobile Robots

Motion Control | Open Loop Control

 Trajectory (path) divided in motion segments

Motion Control | Closed Loop Feedback Control

 Find a control matrix 𝐾, if exists

drives the error 𝑒 to zero

Motion Control | Kinematic Position Control

 The kinematics of a differential drive mobile

 where 𝑥 and 𝑦 are the linear velocities in the direction

Kinematic Position Control | Coordinates Transformation

 Coordinate transformation into polar coordinates with its origin

Autonomous Mobile Robots

Kinematic Position Control | Coordinates Transformation

 The coordinates transformation is not defined at 𝑥 𝑦 0

 For 𝛼 ∈ 𝐼 the forward direction

Autonomous Mobile Robots

Kinematic Position Control | The Control Law

 It can be shown, that with 𝑣 𝑘 𝜌 and 𝜔 𝑘 𝛼 𝑘 𝛽

the feedback-controlled system

will drive the robot to 𝜌, 𝛼, 𝛽 0,0,0

Kinematic Position Control | Resulting Path

Autonomous Mobile Robots

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