Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics December 17 - 20, 2006, Kunming, China

Adaptive fuzzy control for mobile robot obstacle avoidance based on virtual line path tracking
Baoguo Li and Chunxi Zhang Research Institute of Optoelectronic Technology Beijing University ofAeronautics and Astronautics Beijing, 100083, China

lbggbuaa.edu.cn

Abstract - In unknown environments, a mobile robot moves toward a target point by tracking a virtual line path that connects the start point and the target point. Errors from wheel diameters, assembly and gearing may bring uncertain disturbance to the velocity of the mobile robot and enlarge the path tracking error. An adaptive fuzzy logic system is used to approximate the uncertain item in the path tracking control law so that the tracking error could tend to zero. The characteristics of the adaptive line path tracking controller are proved theoretically. When the robot detects any obstacle by sonar sensors, the target point is modified based on impedance control concept and a new virtual line path is generated. The mobile robot follows the new path and avoids collision with the obstacle. Experiments show the performance of the adaptive fuzzy line tracking controller and the obstacle avoidance method. Index Terms - mobile robot, obstacle avoidance, adaptive fuzzy control, impedance control

path. Section 4 illustrates the sonar sensorial system and the obstacle avoidance method based on impedance control concept. Then, experiments show the performance of the proposed tracking algorithm and the avoidance method. Finally, conclusions are concluded. II. VIRTUAL LINE PATH AND MOBILE ROBOT KINEMATICS EQUATIONS The shortest distance between two points is line. Thus, the mobile robot will cover the shortest distance if it follows the line path connecting the start point and the target point, which is called virtual line path in this paper (Fig.1). The initial position of the robot mass center C is taken as the start point and the target point isD(xd yd). Generally, the mass center of the unicycle mobile robot is assumed to just locate at the center of the wheelbase for simplicity[9]. In fact, it is usually distant from the wheelbase center by L .
A

I. INTRODUCTION

D(Xd,Yd)
Virtual line

Navigation and obstacle avoidance for mobile robots in unknown environments have been challenging research items for years. For safe navigation, mobile robots must get to know obstacles by sensors. Sonar sensors are most widely used in mobile robots for their cheapness. And researchers have developed many approaches for mobile robots obstacle avoidance [1-6]. However, these methods took no account of the robot system uncertainties. In reality, errors from wheel distortion, assembly and gearing may introduce motion disturbance to the robot. It is considered that these errors often occurs symmetrically in the two drive units of the robot and so they only bring unknown disturbance to the actual translate speed of the robot. This may result in that the robot departs from its desired path. Although the exact disturbance at every time point is hard to know, its upper and lower bounds could be obtained by tests and estimation. Thus, some researchers revised the mobile model equations and designed control methods to make the robot move more precisely[7'81. An adaptive fuzzy line path tracking method for unicycle mobile robots navigation and obstacle avoidance in unknown environments is presented in this paper. It utilizes an adaptive fuzzy controller to minimize the tracking errors caused by unknown velocity disturbance. Section 2 describes the virtual line path and gives the kinematics of the mobile robot. Section 3 designs the adaptive fuzzy controller which controls the robot to move toward the target by tracking the virtual line

path

0)

Fig.1 Model of the unicycle mobile robot and the virtual line path

The kinematics of the unicycle mobile robot with reference to the wheelbase center P is

SXp
FI

v cosa

y,p = vsin a
=

(1)

ta

o)

where xp , yp are coordinates of P and a is the posture of the robot. Coordinates of the mass center C can be calculated by:
{x

y Yp +Lsn( UY =yx+Lsina

xP Lcosa

(2)

Considering (1), we differentiate (2) and get the kinematics with reference to the robot mass center C:

1-4244-0571-8/06/$20.00 C)2006 IEEE

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x = vcosa -Lsina
ta
=

z,

(sin a a cos a)(5

= vsina+ Locosa 0y co

(3)

III. THE ADAPTIVE FUZZY LINE PAHT TRACKING ALGORITHM If the initial position of the robot is noted as C(xC,y)Y the equation of the virtual line path can be described as (when xd # xc) y = ax+b (4) or, x = Xd (when xd x=) where a =(Yd -Y) (Xd -x),b =y- ax. For a line path like (4), the tracking error function is chosen as z = y - ax - b and its derivative is z= y -ax (6) = (sin a - a cos a)v + (cos a + a sin a)Lw If the line path is (5), the tracking error function will be z =x X-xd and its derivative will be z = vcosa -Lwsin a (7) Equations (6) and (7) have the same form: z= f+gw (8) If the linear velocity of the robot v(v > 0) is a constant and f and g are known, the mobile robot rotation velocity can be simply calculated by (k > 0) co = (-f - kz) Ig (9) and it can be assure that z+kz = 0 (10) Thus, the tracking error z should be asymptotically reduced to zero. However, errors from wheel distortion, assembly and gearing could bring an unknown deviation of 8 to the mobile robot linear velocity and it is assumed that these errors have no influence on the rotation of the mobile robot. Thus, kinematics equation (3) should be revised as x =(v +5) cos a - L c sin a

1a sin(a- tan a) (4 Obviously, when the line obliquity approaches 9T/2, its gradient a -> o. Even though 8 is very little, z, might be very big and the tracking error might increase greatly. An adaptive fuzzy logic system f fO{ has the capability to approximate any function [1] so it can be used to approximate the unknown function f in the rotation control law (9). The adaptive fuzzy line path tracking controller has characteristics as the following theorem. Theorem: For a unicycle mobile robot described as (11), if the control input is (0 = Uc+ us (15) where the fuzzy control item is (16) Uc = (- - kz)lg (k > 0) and the supervisory control item is (17) us =-sgn( z)(I f +f )g
in whichfUI( v +max)cosaJf,I={and V

is set by the designer; and the adaptation law is { when Of M

or,10f I=Mand-zf >0

(18)

XZ-Xf j2

when

Of J= Mand- zf < 0

where y > 0 ,then the following conclusions can be proved: 1) Of Q ={Of I|Of < M}, where M >0 and is set by the designer;
t t

B 2) f Z 12 dt <A+fw 12 dt ,where A,B are constants

0 0

{y (v+)sina+Lwcosa
Substituting (11) into (6) and (7) respectively, we get
z y ax
=
-

and w is the minimum approximation error (see proof for its definition); 3 ) if w is square integrated, then lim z 0= .

(sin a - a cos a)(v + 3) + (cos a + a sin a)Lc

z

(12)

(v +8) cos a - L sin a (13) Equations (12) and (13) also have the same form as (8) but f in them contain uncertain parameterS. From (13), we
can know z, = 8 cos a, which shows that 3 has little influence on the tracking error function when the virtual line path is vertical to the X-axis. However, when the line path has an equation like (4), the uncertain parameter 8 influences the tracking error function by

and

Proof: As the same method as the proof of Theorem 8.1 in [10], the above conclusions can be proved as follows. 1) Let's define Vf =0T{f /2. According to (18), the derivative of Vf iiS when 0t)/f l< M,or <0,

Szf
I

when

J=Mand- zf>0

? =0T 0

zf - wzf n = lhe l
I

when Of I==Mand-zf <0 Thus, it can be concluded that Of 1< M. 2) Substituting (15) into (8) and considering (16) and (17), we can know:

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z=-kz+f -f +gus
Let's define Of
q=i -0
*

Mobile robot
I 0)
-

:argmin.Q[sup |f(x |Of)- f(x)l] ,

(wqYt)gus
2 2 1

andw= (x 0*)- f(x),then

z
=

-kz

(19)

Take the Lyapunov function as

2 2y and its derivative along (19) is
V
V

1=

Tv

(20)

=-kz2

zwzp

gzuS

(21)
uses

Supervisory control
us

sgn(z)(I f +f ) / g
U

When V> V substitute (17) into (21)

,

Fig.2 Diagram of the adaptive fuzzy line path tracking controller

-

(P~~~~~~2 (Of According to (18), the last item in (22) is nonpositive, so V<-kz2-zw-z f(f I+fU) (23) Considering the definition of w, it can be deduced that V<kz2+lzllf(x) f(xlo*)l z I( +fU)
V

=kz2

_zw_

Iz(lf

-k

+fU)_ 1

7Z)

<

kz2

[f(x)

f(x

0*)

f_U]

< -kz2

<0

also get

Thus, V < V and V is bounded. From (23),

V<-kz2 -zw-z(f I+fU)
< _kz-zw

we can

(25)

<-kz +(z +w2)/2 It is assumed that 2k -1 > 0 ( k can be chosen by the designer to meet the assumption), then the integration of (25)
is
z
0

12dt<

2 2k

[V(0) 11V

V(t)]
W

+2kI26fw12dt
1
0

(26)

If we define
A= 2

then (26) is just conclusion 2). 3) If w(E L2, according to conclusion 2), it can be known that z E L2. Every item in the right side of (19) has its limit and so z E Lo< According to Barbalat Theorem in [11], we can draw the conclusion that lim z 0= .
.

2k11k-

[I V(0)

+ sup,0 V(t) l],B =2k

eight Polaroid sonar sensors to sense the environment. Each sonar sensor has a sound cone of 25 degrees and is 22.5 degrees apart from its adjacent. As the existence of the sound cone, the exact orientation of the detected obstacle is hard to know. So, when a sonar sensor detects an obstacle, the orientation of the sensor's line-sight relative to the robot heading is used to estimate the approximate orientation of the obstacle. B. Avoidance based on impedance control concept When an obstacle is detected in the way of the robot, the impedance control conceptE121 is used to accomplish a collision avoidance scheme by modifying the target point to a virtual position temporarily. The normal regulation of the mechanical impedance control needs a feedback of the interaction force between the robot and the environment. However, for safe navigation, the mobile robot must interact with the obstacles without collision. Therefore, the interaction force is represented by a fictitious force f(t) generated as a function of the robot-obstacle distance d (Fig.3). By substituting the mechanical interaction for a non-contact fictitious force, a target modification method is performed for obstacle avoidance. As illustrated in Fig.3, xd =[xd Yd] is the desired target position. At that moment, the robot detects an obstacle and f(t) is calculated based on the robot-obstacle distance provided by the sensorial system. Because the impedance control only considers the interaction force in the moving direction of the robot, the tangential component of the fictitious force f, (t) is used to
Target Xd
Initial virtual line path

,,

Details of designing such an adaptive fuzzy controller can be found in [10]. The adaptive fuzzy line path tracking controller for mobile robots is shown in Fig.2.
IV. IMPEDANCE CONTROL FOR OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE

f(ty f )
f
r (t

___-Xr
New virtual line path

I//

Start

A.

Obstacle sensorial system The mobile robot considers the obstacles in its way and

Fig.3 The fictitious forcef(t)

on

the mobile robot

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decide the magnitude of the rotation angle V, whose direction, clockwise or counter-clockwise, is governed by the normal component of the fictitious force fr (t) . That is g = y(t) sign(f, (t)) (25) where y(t) is an auxiliary variable associated with ft(t). When ft (t) decreases to zero, so does y(t). C. Impedance control The magnitude of f(t) is computed as a linear function, like that in [4] f (t) = m -q (d(t) -dmin) (26) where m and q are positive constants and they can fulfill m-q-(dmax-dmij)=; dma, and dmin are the maximum and minimum robot-obstacle distances that can be detected by the sonar sensor respectively. d(t) is the robot-obstacle distance at time t and it can be known dmin < d(t) < dmax The desired interaction impedance is defined as the linear dynamic relationship[12] d Z(p) =Bp+K 71p (27) _VVI _V dt where B and K are positive constants. Constant B represents a damping effect, and K a spring effect in the virtual interaction between the mobile robot and the obstacle. The auxiliary variable (t) =Z-, (p)jt) (28) is used to generate the rotation angle g of the target point with respect to the vehicle's center. Then, the modified target point Xr =[Xr Yr] can be calculated by applying the rotation transformation of angle g to Xd. The rotating transform equation is cos i;t sinW 1 Xr = (29) - sin cosjIXd Therefore, the closer the obstacle is to the mobile robot, the greater the fictitious force is and the larger the rotation angle is, so that the robot can turn a great angle and avoid the obstacle. When the robot moves away from the obstacle, the fictitious force changes to zero and consequently ft - 0, y O, -0 , so that xr ->Xd. The mobile robot continues to move towards the destined target point. D. Control system diagram When sonar sensors detect obstacles, the target point is modified and the virtual line path should be updated to lead the robot to the modified target point to avoid collision. In order to reduce the output of the fuzzy logic system and shorten the distance that the mobile robot travels, the robot rotates on the spot toward the target (modified or not) when the target is not ahead of the robot. The adaptive fuzzy control diagram for virtual line path tracking and obstacle avoidance of the mobile robot is shown as Fig.4.

Parameters setting

Target modification based on impedance control

Robot rotates

mo

rob

New virtual line pat

h-

Adaptive fuzzy line path tracking controller Fig.4 Line path tracking and obstacle avoidance control diagram

V. EXPERIMENTS

A unicycle mobile robot platform (Fig.5) is established for examining the performance of the adaptive fuzzy tracking controller and the scheme of the obstacle avoidance. Two servo motors differentially drive the mobile robot and several independent function modules, such as drive module, navigation module and obstacle avoidance module, etc, connect through CAN bus and buildup the hardware control system. Especially, the navigation module fuses information from motor encoders and fiber gyroscope to greatly improve the location precision of the dead reckoning method.

W.....................

Fig.5 Mobile robot for experiments

A. Line path tracking experiment It can be kniown fromi (14) that the greater the gradienit of the line is, the more deviation the uncertain parameter S brings to the tracking error. Therefore, line path with great gradient is used to test the adaptive fuzzy controller in the line path tracking experiment. The mobile robot is ordered to track the line path y-1lOOx 0 and its initial posture with reference to the wheelbase P is (Om,Om, T/3). The bound of the unknown

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linear velocity deviation is Imax= O.Olm/s and the adaptive parameters are k = 0.6 and y = 0.05. Adaptive and nonadaptive line path tracking algorithms are examined respectively. The result (Fig.6) shows that the uncertain parameter 8 makes the robot depart from the desired line path by more than 5cm. Moreover, the deviation doesn't converge even after a long distance travel. Fortunately, the adaptive fuzzy controller can approximate the actual value of the uncertain item in the control law and minimize the tracking error close to zero.
0.5r

collision with obstacles. Experiments show the performance of the adaptive fuzzy path tracking and obstacle avoidance control algorithm. However, because of the sound reflection and sound cone of sensors, the sonar sensorial system has a limited capability when sensing the environment, which leads to the roughness of the mobile robot trajectory. It may be improved by applying a laser scanner or some other fast and precise sensors.
10
8

T arget point

9.1
Nonadative
9

0
E

Nonadaptive

7
Adaptive

\A/1

6
A

4.
Ob staclesI

'Line path for

-0.5L 0

8.9

Y(m) (b)Tracking errors

10

f/

Obstacles

322 ; 320

3 2 11.

FlMobile robot

8.8 X/ 0.086 0.088

0.09

I 0.092

318 316
-1

X(m) (a)Tracking trajectories

Obstacle avoidance experiments Eight Polaroid sonar sensors data are gathered by a DSP board and sent to the control program in the onboard computer PC104 through CAN bus. The damp effect of the impedance control is B = 0.5Nt sec/ rad and the spring effect is K = 3Nt rad . The adaptive parameters are as the same as line tracking experiments. Some boxes and other objects act as obstacles between the robot and the target point. The initial posture of the mobile robot is (Om,Om,O) and the target point is (0.5m, 9m) in the experiment(Fig.7). The mobile robot rotates on the spot firstly to face the target and then starts to track the virtual line path and move toward the target. The experiment result indicates that the line path tracking algorithm and the obstacle avoidance control diagram prevent the mobile robot from collision with the obstacles and guide the robot to reach the target point. VI. CONCLUSION An adaptive fuzzy line path tracking and obstacle avoidance control method is presented in this paper. The mobile robot moves toward the target point by tracking the virtual line path between the start point and the target point. An adaptive fuzzy controller is designed to minimize the tracking error caused by the uncertainty of the mobile robot velocity due to wheels radii error, assembly and gearing errors. When sonar sensors detect obstacles, the target modification method based on impedance control modifies the target point and updates the virtual line path so that the mobile robot rotates to avoid
B.

Fig.6 Comparison of line path tracking algorithms

40 Time(s) (c)Curve of thetaf

20

60

-3

-2

-1

Xm)

Fig.7 Experiment result of obstacle avoidance

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