The Simulation of Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for a Human-following Mobile Robot

This paper proposed a novel control frame to deal with the human following issue of an omnidirectional mobile robot. The control input is calculated based on the prediction of human motion. The prediction of human motion is performed by means of a hybrid kinematics model. This model describes the different phases in the human walking. A nonlinear model predictive control(NMPC) is used to construct the control frame. In this control frame, the optimal control input is generated by means of the prediction of the motion of human with the consideration of the nonlinear kinematics model and hardware limitations of the omnidirectional mobile robot. Experimental and simulation results are provided to demonstrate the efficiency of the walking model and proposed controller.