Stabilization of a tractor-trailer wheeled robot

Wheeled mobile robots are a special class of nonholonomic mechanical systems. The mobility of such highly nonlinear systems is restricted due to the presence of nonholonomic constraints of wheels, also the system severe underactuated nature. These conditions generate major difficulties in system stabilization, i.e. to park or reach a given configuration for the overall system. This leads to a challenging control problem for research that is the focus of this paper. In this paper a new method based on time-varying feedbacks has been developed for a Tractor-trailer wheeled robot (TTWR). First kinematic model of the TTWR is obtained. Next, a novel method using timevarying feedbacks is investigated in order to stabilize the TTWR around the origin. The proposed kinematic control algorithm is developed based on switching between two finite-time controllers. Appropriate control algorithms have been designed for each step based on the stability of the closed loop system. Obtained simulation and experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed control law.