Tracking control of unicycle-modeled mobile robots using a saturation feedback controller

The tracking control problem with saturation constraint for a class of unic ycle-modeled mobile robots is formulated and solved using the backstepping technique and the idea from the LaSalle's invariance principle. A global re sult is presented in which several constraints on the linear and the angula r velocities of the mobile robot from recent literature are dropped. The pr oposed controller can simultaneously solve both the tracking and regulation problems of a unicycle-modeled mobile robot. With the proposed control law s, the robot can globally follow any path specified by a straight line, a c ircle or a path approaching the origin using a single controller. As demons trated, the circular and parallel parking control problem are solved using the proposed controller. Computer simulations are presented which confirm t he effectiveness of the proposed tracking control law Practical experimenta l results validate the simulations.