Time-optimal sliding-mode control of a mobile robot in a dynamic environment

In this study, an original strategy to control a mobile robot in a dynamic environment is presented. The strategy consists of two main elements. The first is the method for the online trajectory generation based on harmonic potential fields, capable of generating velocity and orientation references, which extends classical results on harmonic potential fields for the case of static environments to the case when the presence of a moving obstacle with unknown motion is considered. The second is the design of sliding-mode controllers capable of making the controlled variables of the robot track in a finite minimum time both the velocity and the orientation references. © 2011 The Institution of Engineering and Technology.