Control of Nonholonomic Robotic Systems Using Reduction and Adaptation ‡

Abstract

This paper considers the problem of controlling nonholonomic robotic systems in the presence of incomplete information concerning the system model and state. It is proposed that a simple and effective solution to this problem can be obtained by first using a reduction procedure to obtain a lower dimensional system which retains the mechanical system structure of the original system, and then adaptively controlling the reduced system in such a way that the complete system is driven to the goal configuration. This approach is shown to ensure accurate motion control without knowledge of the system dynamic model or rate measurements.