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Enhancing the terrain adaptability of a multirobot cooperative transportation system via novel connectors and optimized cooperative strategies

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Abstract

Given limited terrain adaptability, most existing multirobot cooperative transportation systems (MRCTSs) mainly work on flat pavements, restricting their outdoor applications. The connectors’ finite deformation capability and the control strategies’ limitations are primarily responsible for this phenomenon. This study proposes a novel MRCTS based on tracked mobile robots (TMRs) to improve terrain adaptability and expand the application scenarios of MRCTSs. In structure design, we develop a novel 6-degree-of-freedom passive adaptive connector to link multiple TMRs and the transported object (the communal payload). In addition, the connector is set with sensors to measure the position and orientation of the robot with respect to the object for feedback control. In the control strategy, we present a virtual leader–physical follower collaborative paradigm. The leader robot is imaginary to describe the movement of the entire system and manage the follower robots. All the TMRs in the system act as follower robots to transport the object cooperatively. Having divided the whole control structure into the leader robot level and the follower robot level, we convert the motion control of the two kinds of robots to trajectory tracking control problems and propose a novel double closed-loop kinematics control framework. Furthermore, a control law satisfying saturation constraints is derived to ensure transportation stability. An adaptive control algorithm processes the wheelbase uncertainty of the TMR. Finally, we develop a prototype of the TMR-based MRCTS for experiments. In the trajectory tracking experiment, the developed MRCTS with the proposed control scheme can converge to the reference trajectory in the presence of initial tracking errors in a finite time. In the outdoor experiment, the proposed MRCTS consisting of four TMRs can successfully transport a payload weighing 60 kg on an uneven road with the single TMR’s maximum load limited to 15 kg. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the structural design and control strategies of the TMR-based MRCTS.

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Abbreviations

DOF:

Degree of freedom

MCU:

Microcontroller unit

MRCTS:

Multirobot cooperative transportation system

OMR:

Omnidirectional mobile robot

TMR:

Tracked mobile robot

Wi-Fi:

Wireless fidelity

A i :

Connection point between the rigid loading plate and the ith connector

b i :

Half of the physical wheelbase of the ith follower robot

C i :

Connection point between the ith follower robot and the ith connector

k 1 , k 2, k 3, k 4, k 5, k 6 :

Gain parameters

L :

Lyapunov function of the whole system

L b :

Lyapunov function of the leader robot

L r :

Lyapunov function of all the follower robots

r i :

Wheel radius of the ith follower robot

r xi, r yi :

Positions of point Ai in the x and y directions, respectively

v Aix, v Aiy :

Linear velocities of point Ai in the x and y directions, respectively

v b :

Linear velocity of the virtual leader robot

v br :

Linear velocity of the reference leader robot

v i :

Linear velocity of the ith follower robot

v ri :

Linear velocity of the ith reference follower robot

w Ai :

Angular velocity of point Ai

w b :

Angular velocity of the virtual leader robot

w br :

Angular velocity of the reference leader robot

w i :

Angular velocity of the ith follower robot

w ri :

Angular velocity of the ith reference follower robot

x b :

Position in the x direction of the virtual leader robot in the global coordinate frame

x be :

Tracking error of the leader robot in the x direction

x br :

Position in the x direction of the reference leader robot in the global coordinate frame

x ei :

Tracking error of the ith follower robot in the x direction

y b :

Position in the y direction of the virtual leader robot in the global coordinate frame

y be :

Tracking error of the leader robot in the y direction

y br :

Position in the y direction of the reference leader robot in the global coordinate frame

y ei :

Tracking error of the ith follower robot in the y direction

θ b :

Orientation of the virtual leader robot in the global coordinate frame

θ be :

Orientation error of the leader robot

θ br :

Orientation of the reference leader robot in the global coordinate frame

θ ei :

Orientation error of the ith follower robot

θ ri :

Target orientation of the ith follower robot

θ si :

Real-time orientation of the ith follower robot

λ i :

Wheelbase coefficient of the ith follower robot

λ ie :

Estimation error of the wheelbase coefficient of the ith follower robot

λ ip :

Estimation value of the wheelbase coefficient of the ith follower robot

φ li :

Left wheel speed of the ith follower robot without wheelbase coefficient estimation

φ liN :

Left wheel speed of the ith follower robot with wheelbase coefficient estimation

φ ri :

Right wheel speed of the ith follower robot without wheelbase coefficient estimation

φ riN :

Right wheel speed of the ith follower robot with wheelbase coefficient estimation

φ λi :

Gain parameter

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52175237) and Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, China (Grant No. Z211100004021022).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tribology in Advanced Equipment & Institute of Manufacturing Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Quan Liu, Zhao Gong, Zhenguo Nie & Xin-Jun Liu

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Precision/Ultra-precision Manufacturing Equipments and Control, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Zhenguo Nie & Xin-Jun Liu

Authors
  1. Quan Liu
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Correspondence to Xin-Jun Liu.

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Liu, Q., Gong, Z., Nie, Z. et al. Enhancing the terrain adaptability of a multirobot cooperative transportation system via novel connectors and optimized cooperative strategies. Front. Mech. Eng. 18, 38 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-023-0754-2

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