A simulation framework for evolution on uneven terrains for synchronous drive robot

Abstract

This paper presents a simulation framework for evolution on uneven terrains for a wheeled mobile robot (WMR) such as a synchronous drive robot. The framework lends itself as a tool capable of solving various problems, such as forward kinematic-based evolution, inverse kinematic-based evolution, path planning and trajectory tracking. This framework becomes particularly useful when we understand that the evolution problem (and hence, the various associated problems based on evolution) is particularly challenging on uneven terrain. Specifically, it is entailed to bring in the contact constraints posed by the interaction of the wheel and the ground as well as the holonomic constraints as the problem is formulated in a Differential Algebraic Equation setting. The problem becomes all the more crucial as vehicles moving on uneven terrain are becoming the order of the day. Nonetheless, there has not been much literature that deals in length the various aspects that go into the framework. This paper elaborates on the various aspects of the framework, presents simulation results on uneven terrain, where the vehicle evolves without slipping, and also presents substantial quantitative analysis in regard to wheel slippage. The main contributions of this paper are the motion planning using forward kinematic framework and a new formulation of inverse kinematics for wheeled robots on uneven terrains.