Development of an autonomous trajectory tracking control system for a mecanum wheeled mobile robot considering variable wheel contact forces
Can Tezel, Gokhan Bayar
article (Uluslararası, Hakemli) | Yazar(lar): Can Tezel, Gokhan Bayar | Yıl: 2026 | Dergi/Kurum: ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS | İndeks: WOS.SCI | DOI: 10.1016/j.robot.2026.105745 | Anahtar Kelimeler: Model based predictive control, Mobile robot, Autonomous system, Mecanum wheel, Mecanum roller, Variable contact forc
In this study, an autonomous trajectory tracking control methodology for a mecanum wheeled mobile robot is proposed. Mecanum wheeled mobile robots are generally modeled using single contact force assumption. This assumption may be true theoretically, however, it doesn't reflect reality. This assumption gets rid of slippage information so that a reference trajectory tracking task couldn't be achieved with minimum amount of tracking errors. To perform desired trajectory tracking tasks with minimum tracking errors, a mathematical modeling structure which forms the autonomous system is proposed in this study. The structure proposed involves: (1) a variable contact force model, (2) a system model including kinematics and dynamics of the mobile robot and the model predictive control strategy, and (3) an autonomous trajectory tracking control system. A simulation environment and an experimental setup are built using the integration of Matlab/Simulink and ROS. Number of simulation and experimental studies are conducted by using different reference trajectories; square-shaped, Zshaped and circle-shaped geometries. In order to show the performance of the system proposed, the reference trajectory tracking tasks are also conducted via classical PID control method. The details of the mathematical background of the autonomous system developed, built, tested and compared are presented in this paper.