Obstacle avoidance control for four wheels independent steering automatic guided vehicles

Abstract

This paper proposes an obstacle avoidance algorithm for translational and rotational motions of four wheels independent steering (4WIS) automatic guided vehicles (AGV) based on fuzzy potential method (FPM) and backstepping control method. Firstly, the system is described and mathematical modeling is introduced. The AGV consists of 4 wheels driving system, laser measurement system, laser navigation system and industrial PC. Secondly, the Fuzzy Potential Field (FPM) is proposed to obtain an optimal path for an AGV. The shape and the size of the vehicle are considered when the FPM generates the optimal path from the current position to the goal position. This method allows the rectangular shape AGV to avoid unknown obstacles safely and efficiently. Backstepping controller is proposed to track the optimal path generated by FPM. Finally, the simulations are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can make the 4WIS-AGV avoid the obstacles in cluttered environment. ？ Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.