Adaptive Tracking in Mobile Robots With Input-Output Linearization

This paper presents a neural network adaptive controller for trajectory tracking of nonholonomic mobile robots. By defining a point to follow (look-ahead control), the path-following problem is solved with input-output linearization. A computed torque plus derivative (PD) controller and a dynamic inversion neural network controller are responsible for reducing tracking error and adapting to unmodeled external perturbations. The adaptive controller is implemented through a hidden layer feed-forward neural network, with weights updated in real time. The stability of the whole system is analyzed using Lyapunov theory, and control errors are proven to be bounded. Simulation results demonstrate the good performance of the proposed controller for trajectory tracking under external perturbations.