This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Mutambara, A. G. O. Articles by Durrant-Whyte, H. F. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Fully Decentralized Estimation and Control for a Modular Wheeled Mobile Robot

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rm 37-441, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA

Hugh F. Durrant-Whyte

Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, N.S.W 2006, Australia

In this paper, the problem of fully decentralized data fusion and control for a modular wheeled mobile robot (WMR) is addressed. This is a vehicle system with nonlinear kinematics, distributed multiple sensors, and nonlinear sensor models. The problem is solved by applying fully decentralized estimation and control algorithms based on the extended information filter. This is achieved by deriving a modular, decentralized kinematic model by using plane motion kinematics to obtain the forward and inverse kinematics for a generalized simple wheeled vehicle. This model is then used in the decentralized estimation and control algorithms. WMR estimation and control is this obtained locally using reduced order models with reduced communication requirements, in a scalable network of control nodes. If communication of information between nodes is carried out after every measurement (full rate communication), the estimates and control signals obtained at each node are equivalent to those obtained by a corresponding centralized system. Transputer architecture is used as the basis for hardware and software design as it supports the extensive communication and concurrency requirements that characterize modular and decentralized systems. The advantages of a modular WMR vehicle include scalability, application flexibility low prototyping costs, and high reliability.

Key Words: transputer • estimation • control • modular • WMR • decentralized • kinematics • communication • scalable

The International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol. 19, No. 6, 582-596 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/027836490001900603


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?