Implementation and control of a roadway crack tracking mobile robot with force regulation

This paper presents the implementation of the crack tracking robot. The purpose of a crack tracking robot is to detect, track the crack on the pavement, and clean up the dirt for preparing for a sealing job. To detect an exact crack position, laser sensor and camera sensor are used. The explicit force control method is used to regulate a specified desired force by maintaining a constant contact force with the ground. Experimental studies of force tracking control are conducted under unknown environment stiffness and location. Force tracking results are excellent and the robot finds and tracks the crack quite well.