A fuzzy neural dynamics based tracking controller for a nonholonomic mobile robot

In this paper, a fuzzy neural dynamics based tracking controller for nonholonomic wheeled mobile robots is proposed. The nonholonomic kinematic constraints are considered in the development of the controller. The proposed model is suitable for both continuous and discrete paths. Fuzzy rules are formulated to deal with the discontinuity in path directions. This model is capable of generating smooth velocity commands to drive the robot to track the desired paths. In the situation with large initial errors, the proposed model can automatically generate a smooth curve to reach the desired robot path from an arbitrary initial configuration without any explicit algorithms for the connection curve. At sharp turns, this model can automatically round off the sharp turns with a smooth curve. The effectiveness of the proposed tracking controller is demonstrated by simulation studies.