Robust tracking control of nonholonomic dynamic systems with application to the bi-steerable mobile robot

A tracking controller for nonholonomic dynamic systems is proposed which allows global tracking of arbitrary reference trajectories and renders the closed loop system robust with respect to bounded disturbances. The controller is based on [Chwa, D. (2004). Sliding-mode tracking control of nonholonomic wheeled mobile robots in polar coordinates. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, 12(4), 637–644] and shows several generalizations and improvements. The control law for tracking of general nonholonomic systems using inverse kinematic models (IKM) and sliding surfaces is stated. Conditions are proven under which robust tracking is achieved for a specific system. Tracking control is applied to the bi-steerable mobile robot, and simulation results are presented.