Co-simulation of trajectory tracking control of Wheeled Mobile Robots with consideration of ground condition

Based on the Virtual Prototype Technology, a model of Wheeled Mobile Robot (WMR) including the mechanical joints, tires and ground condition is built by using ADAMS. Furthermore according to the sampled data of real roads, the RBF-based numerical interpolation method is applied to build 3D virtual grounds in ADAMS/View that can simulate the real road and road-tire adhesion. With the help of chained system theory, a path following controller is designed with MATLAB/Simulink and is carried out with ADAMS to compose a co-simulation platform. By using the Co-simulation platform, the performance of trajectory tracking controller is tested and verified for different road conditions. Also some key parameters are measured for forthcoming sliding compensation. The experiment results show that the designed controller can achieve satisfactory trajectory track results for different road conditions.