A new device dedicated to autonomous mobile robot dynamic stability: Application to an off-road mobile robot

Automation in outdoor applications (farming, surveillance, etc.) requires highly accurate control of mobile robots, at high speed, accounting for natural ground specificities (mainly sliding effects). In previous work, predictive control algorithms dedicated to All-Terrain Vehicle lateral stability was investigated. Satisfactory advanced simulation results have been reported but no experimental ones were presented. In this paper, the prevention of a real off-road mobile robot rollover is addressed. First, both rollover dynamic modeling and previous work on a Mixed observer designed to estimate on-line sliding phenomena for path tracking control are recalled. Then, this observer is here used to compute a rollover indicator accounting for sliding phenomena, from a low-cost perception system. Next, the maximum vehicle velocity, compatible with a safe motion over some horizon of prediction, is computed via Predictive Functional Control (PFC), and can then be applied, if needed, to the vehicle actuator to prevent from rollover. The capabilities of the proposed device are demonstrated and discussed thanks to real experimentation.