Trajectory Tracking Control of a Unicycle-type
Mobile Robot With a New Planning Algorithm
Shuaijun Li
Advanced Robotics Lab,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, China
sjli01@mae.cuhk.edu.hk
Abstract—Trajectory tracking control is one of the core
techniques that impacts the auto-driving performance of a mobile
robot. Whereas, there lacks enough work on reference trajectory
generation and controller design for practical usage. This paper
considers mobile robots with unicycle vehicle model on which most
of automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) in real world are built. A new
trajectory planning algorithm is developed, and is applied along with
a control law considering constraints of the unicycle model and
limited motor capabilities. The proposed algorithm is easy to be
implemented on real world AGVs, and it yields a fast, accurate and
robust trajectory tracking performance. The effectiveness of the
algorithm is validated by simulation tests.
Keywords—Tracjectory Planning; Trajectory Tracking; Mobile
Robots; Robot Control;
I. INTRODUCTION
To make a robot move along an expected route is a
fundamental task in mobile robots control. Both path following
and trajectory tracking methods have been introduced to deal
with this issue. When the spatial error is the major concern and
there are fewer constraints regarding the moving speed, path
following controls are usually applied. Pure Pursuit method and
Stanley method have been raised in the early stage of the 2000s
using “bicycle model” for vehicle dynamics. These methods
have been implemented on auto driving vehicles at DARPA
Grand Challenges and helped some vehicles to complete the
races [1]. Some further efforts were made later on to achieve
better tracking performance by improving vehicle models or
controller designs [2], [3], [4].
More recent research switches the focus onto trajectory
tracking problems, in which the dimension of time is considered
and the temporal speed and position errors are concerned. This
topic remains popular yet still under development [5], [6]. In
particular, a back-stepping technique was used in [7] to develop
a time-varying state feedback controller such that the global
trajectory tracking of a mobile robot can be achieved. Later in
[8], speed saturation of the mobile robot was taken into account.
In [9], the authors applied sliding mode control technique in
controller design. In [10], both tracking control and regulation
This research is supported by the NSFC project U1613226 from the State
Joint Engineering Lab and Shenzhen Engineering Lab on Robotics and
Intelligent Manufacturing, China.
978-1-5386-3742-5/17/$31.00 © 2017 IEEE
Guilin Zhang, Xiangyu Lei, Xiao Yu,
Huihuan Qian and Yangsheng Xu
Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Lab
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
Shenzhen, China
{115010278; 115010168}@link.cuhk.edu.cn
{yuxiao; hhqian; ysxu}@cuhk.edu.cn
problems were simultaneously solved with one single controller.
In [11], the constrained control Lyapunov function method was
used to design a saturated controller such that the unicycle can
keep a positive-minimum speed. In [12], a simple bounded
controller was proposed to handle the same speed limitation in
[11]. In [13], the authors developed a visual feedback controller
with an adaptive algorithm for estimating the global position.
However, all aforementioned works only made some
assumptions about the reference trajectory, but did not address
enough regarding the way to obtain such a reference trajectory
within a certain environment.
Research on path planning can be used to tackle with this
concern to some extent. Global path planning algorithms such as
A*, Dijkstra or Probabilistic Roadmaps (RPM) can be used to
generate a path between the starting point and the destination
that avoids obstacles [14], [15]. However, vehicle model and its
dynamics were not considered in these algorithms, so that there
is no guarantee that these path or trajectory can be well tracked.
In this paper, we consider the unicycle-type mobile robot and
propose a new trajectory generation algorithm. This algorithm
takes vehicle model and speed limitations into consideration and
guarantees the tractability of the generated reference trajectory.
In addition, we also implement a control law specially designed
for these constraints, so that an optimal trajectory tracking
performance can be achieved.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Section II,
the non-holonomic characteristic of the unicycle model is first
analyzed and its constraints, together with motor’s capability
limitations, to trajectory generation are investigated. Then, the
proposed path and trajectory generation methods with enhanced
trackability are explained in full length. In Section III, the
corresponding controller design with speed limitation is
introduced and the trajectory tracking performance is validated
with simulation tests. Conclusions are drawn and some future
directions are discussed in Section IV.
II. TRAJECTORY GENERATION WITH IMPROVED TRACTABILITY
To generate a path or a trajectory within an environment with
constraints such as walls and obstacles, global path planning
algorithm such as A* and D* algorithm are usually used. In A*
algorithm, the map is modeled as a lattice of nodes 𝑛, and three
types of cost functions 𝑓(𝑛), 𝑔(𝑛) and ℎ(𝑛) are defined. By
searching around the nodes and calculating these three cost
functions iteratively, an optimal path can be determined between
the starting and the ending points. The disadvantage of A*
algorithm is that it works only for static maps but cannot deal
with dynamic change in maps or obstacles. In D* (or Dynamic
A Star) algorithm, further improvements are made in this regard.
When the robot starts moving, the adjacent nodes along the
optimal path are continuously observed for possible changes
from the prior information. When changes (indicating moving
obstacles or changes in map info) are observed, using similar
concept as in A*, the path estimation cost function ℎ(𝑛) is
adjusted by a weights function 𝑐(𝑋, 𝑌), an A*-like process is
evaluated again for the adjacent nodes, and a new path can be
generated.
To further decrease the computational cost, sample-based
planning methods such as Rapidly-exploring Random Trees
(RRT) and Probabilistic Roadmaps (RPM) were proposed in
[16], [17]. These methods can be viewed as growing a tree from
a robot's starting point until one of its branches hits the goal. The
tree branches are created by randomly sampling probabilistic
points. Tests are run for collision-free check and an optimal path
can be found by finding the shortest path.
In all these methods, the maps are all represented in form of
nodes or grids and the generated path may contain sharp turns,
zig-zag path, etc., which are unfavorable from a tracking control
perspective. In this paper, we will further improve these
trajectories by adding constraints of vehicle model and speed
limits, and by assigning appropriate timing, in order to ensure
the trackability of the generated trajectory.
A. Constraints of Unicycle-type Robot with Speed Limits
The unicycle model has been widely used in mobile robot
control due to its simplicity and generalizability [18], and in this
paper we mainly focus on this model. Note that the kinematic
model of unicycle is non-holonomic, which means that by using
the velocity of vehicle’s two wheels as input, only a linear
velocity 𝑣 and a rotational velocity 𝜔 can be produced, but there
is no way to generate a lateral velocity to the vehicle. This
vehicle model constraint shall yield some impacts and
limitations to the trajectory tracking performance.
In other words, not all the trajectories can be well tracked by
a unicycle-type robot. For example, if a reference path is given
as shown in Fig. 1, and the reference trajectory is given with
uniformed time intervals, then it is impossible for the robot to
accurately track the trajectory around point A. Apparently, for
an accurate tracking, the robot has to stop at point A and rotate
around it, which is against an evenly distributed trajectory.
Indeed, although the portion of curve OA may seem to be
smooth, it can still be non-trackable for a unicycle-type robot, as
long as a lateral velocity is required at any point.
In addition, in practical mobile robot control, there are also
other common physical constraints such as limited moving
speed 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 and rotating speed 𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 due to limited motor
capabilities, non-zero vehicle inertial mass, limited accelerating
capabilities and so on. Noting that for trajectory tracking tasks,
a minimum moving speed 𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 is also usually a constraint, as in
most cases, a smooth motion is wanted and robots are not
expected to stop in the middle of a trajectory.
B. Constraints of Trajectory Generated by Unicycles
To ensure that a trajectory is trackable for a unicycle-type
robot, the core concept we deploy in this research is as follows.
If a trajectory can be exactly generated by a test robot with ideal
unicycle model, then it can be also exactly tracked and it can be
defined as a trackable trajectory. The concrete constraints of
such a trajectory are explained as follows.
For uniformed and coherent discussion, the subscript t 𝑖 is
used to denote time relevant information and a trajectory is
denoted as a set of {𝑃𝑡𝑖 }, where each element 𝑃𝑡𝑖 = (𝑥𝑡𝑖 , 𝑦𝑡𝑖 , 𝜃𝑡𝑖 )
represents robot’s position and orientation at a specific time
moment t 𝑖 . Similarly (𝑣𝑡𝑖 , ω𝑡𝑖 ) represents robot’s linear
velocity and angular velocity at a specific time moment. In
contrast, the subscript 𝑖 is used to denote spatial information and
a path is denoted as a set of {𝑃𝑖 } , where 𝑃𝑖 = (𝑥𝑖 , 𝑦𝑖 ) represents
only spatial information. So (𝑣𝑖 , ω𝑖 ) represents robot’s linear
velocity and angular velocity at a spatial point.
First, consider the scenarios where the 𝑣 and 𝜔 of the test
robot are not constrained. Then in these scenarios, indeed any
trajectory can be generated and can thus be tracked. For
example, to generate the trajectory given in Fig. 1 (with un-even
time intervals), the robot needs to travel to point A, stop moving,
rotate itself to the orientation of AB, and then keep on moving.
To be noticed, the generated trajectory in such scenarios will
have some points Pt𝑖 with the same (𝑥𝑡𝑖 , 𝑦𝑡𝑖 ), indicating that the
robot stops (𝑣𝑡𝑖 = 0) and its position is staying at the same point
of A for some time. As mentioned above, this is conflicting with
the constraints of a non-zero 𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 in real-world applications.
A
B
θ
O
(x,y)
Y
X
Fig. 1 Trajectory Tracking of a Unicycle-type Robot
Then, consider the situations when there are some limitations
to the 𝑣 and 𝜔 of robot. Firstly, we discuss the scenarios when
𝑣 is constant and non-zero, while 𝜔 is variant but limited within
the range of [0, 𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 ]. At any moment, the robot has a 𝑣 and 𝜔,
and since the trajectory is generated by a unicycle, there will be
no later velocity at any spot. This means that at any spot, the
robot is doing pure rotation around its instant rotating center C
as illustrated in Fig. 2. The instant rotation radius is denoted as
𝜌 and the curvature is denoted as 𝜅. Then, (1) will hold at all the
time moment 𝑡𝑖 . Since both 𝑣 and 𝜔 are continuous and
bounded functions, the curvature 𝜅 of the generated trajectory
shall also be continuous and bounded at the range of [0, 𝜅𝑚𝑎𝑥′ ],
in which 𝜅𝑚𝑎𝑥′ = 𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 /𝑣.
Secondly, consider the situation if we loosen the constraints
to the unicycle and allow 𝑣 to be variant too. Assume that 𝑣 is
bounded in the range of [𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 , 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 ], then (1) still holds at
every time moment but the curvature now has a new range of
[0, 𝜅𝑚𝑎𝑥 ] as calculated in (2).
𝑣𝑡 (1)
𝜔𝑡𝑖 = 𝑖 = 𝜅 ∙ 𝑣𝑡𝑖
𝜌𝑡𝑖
ω𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝜅𝑚𝑎𝑥 = (2)
𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛
In summary, we now know that if a trajectory can be
generated by an ideal unicycle model with continuous and
bounded speed of 𝑣 ∈ [𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 , 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 ] and 𝜔 ∈ [0, 𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 ] , the
necessary constraints are: 1) The demanded velocities for the
trajectory are continuous and of the same range as that of 𝑣 and
ω. 2) The demanded accelerations are limited and same as the
test unicycle. 3) The geometrical curvatures of the trajectory are
limited and the maximum curvature occurs at minimum linear
velocity and maximum angular velocity with value of 𝜅𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
ω𝑚𝑎𝑥 /𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 . Based on these constraints, we develop a method
to properly generate an improved path based on the global
planning result, and subsequently transform this path into a
trackable trajectory.
Δt
vti vi vi+1
ωi ωi+1
ωti
ρ
C
κ=1/ρ
Fig. 2 Pure Rotation and Instant Rotating Center
C. Path Generation with Constraints
The starting point of our work is the jerky path obtained from
global path planning algorithm. In order to further improve it to
generate a trackable trajectory, the first step is to improve this
path by applying a smoothing process followed by an adjusting
process based on cubic spline interpolations. This step will
maintain the continuity of the position, velocity and acceleration,
and maintain a good balance between tolerance and accuracy.
Details are explained as follows.
First, when the global trajectory is obtained, it may contain
straight lines and sharp corners as shown in Fig. 3, which are
undesirable in terms of trackability. To smoothen it, we use the
method of cubic spline interpolation, which models the path
using piecewise third order polynomials. Compared with other
interpolation methods, such as piecewise linear interpolation or
polynomial interpolation, cubic spline interpolation method has
the advantages that it avoids the oscillation between points, and
it ensures the connections between different pieces to be
continuous for both first order and second order derivatives.
For example, using the smoothing spline approach (a
specific approach of the cubic spline interpolation method [20]),
the original jerky path shown in black can be smoothed into a
curve as show in blue. Each piece of the curve is expressed in
cubic polynomials as in (3), and both the first order and second
order derivatives are continuous functions (4) and (5), which, to
be explained later, is helpful to guarantee the continuous
velocities for trajectory generation.
Although a smooth path is obtained now, in real-world
applications, this usually cannot meet with the application
requirement yet. Because this smoothing spline approach will
scarify some accuracy and will not guarantee that the inter-
median points are indeed passed. In real-world application, it’s
more than often that we expect the robot to accurately go through
some specific points to achieve some tasks. To deal with this
concern, another path adjusting process can be added.
𝑦 = 𝑓𝑖 (𝑥) = 𝑎𝑖 𝑥 3 + 𝑏𝑖 𝑥 2 + 𝑐𝑖 𝑥 + 𝑑𝑖 , (3)
𝑖 = 1, ⋯ , 𝑛
𝑓𝑖 ′(𝑥) = 3𝑎𝑖 𝑥 2 + 2𝑏𝑖 𝑥 + 𝑐𝑖 (4)
𝑓𝑖 ′′(𝑥) = 6𝑎𝑖 𝑥 + 2𝑏𝑖 (5)
Fig. 3 Path Smoothing using Smoothing Spline Approach
For example, assume that the three red points in the top
portion in Fig. 3 are the key points through which the robot is
expected to go. In this adjusting process, we can firstly cut off
the portions around these key points. For example, as shown in
Fig. 4, a path portion with a length three times that of the key
points’ are to cut off for regeneration. Then, we can pick a new
set of control points including both these key points and some
other points from the old smoothed path. In this example, the
points at twice-length position and triple-length position on the
old path are picked as control points. After that, using cubic
spline interpolation method, a new portion of curve can be
regenerated. This adjusted path ensures both the smoothness and
the accurate pass through the control points.
Fig. 4 Path Adjusting using Cubic Spline Interpolation
The last step for path generation is to apply a curvature check
against the limitation of κ𝑚𝑎𝑥 in (2). Now we have a series of
cubic polynomial functions describing the path, and then the
curvature of any point along the path can be determined by (6).
The sharpest turning usually occurs at the extreme corners at
similar situations as shown in Fig. 4. In case that the calculated
curvature at a specific corner point goes beyond the κ𝑚𝑎𝑥 , the
control point in that corner has to be given up and be removed,
so that as a result, a less sharp path curve will be generated and
tracking errors around that point will be inevitable.
|𝑓′′(𝑥)|
𝜅= 3/2 (6)
(1 + 𝑓 ′2 (𝑥))
In this example, it is assumed that the robot has a speed
capability of 𝑣 ∈ [𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 , 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 ] = [0.1 , 3 ]𝑚/𝑠 , and 𝜔 ∈
[0, 𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 ] = [0, 𝜋/4 ]𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠 , then the maximum curvature is
𝜅𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 0.5𝜋 in this case. It can be seen in Fig. 5 that, along all
the points on the generated path, the curvature is continuous and
within the limitation of κ𝑚𝑎𝑥 , and both the first order and second
order derivatives are continuous and bounded [19]. These
characteristics indicated that the demanded velocities and
accelerations are also continuous and bounded.
Fig. 5 Derivatives and Curvatures of the Generated Path
D. Trajectory Generation with Constraints
Now we have obtained an improved path with considerations
of unicycle model, the next step is to add in the dimension of
time and transform it into a trackable trajectory. To this end, we
develop a two-step method that works on the velocity space.
First, the linear and rotational velocities 𝑣i and 𝜔𝑖 are
determined spatially along the entire path; and secondly, the
time moments are assigned to these velocities to generate 𝑣𝑡 and
𝜔𝑡 . Details are explained as follows.
As explained in Section II-B, if a trajectory can be generated
by an ideal unicycle robot, then it is trackable. At every moment,
a unicycle robot has a linear velocity 𝑣𝑡 and rotational velocity
𝜔𝑡 , and their values will eventually yield different trajectories.
It is natural to think about that if there is a way to determine these
𝑣𝑡 and 𝜔𝑡 for a trajectory. This trajectory will be trackable by
applying these 𝑣𝑡 and 𝜔𝑡 .
To do this, we first determine the 𝑣𝑖 and ωi spatially
according to the curvatures 𝜅 at the specific point along the path:
1) if 𝜅 > κ𝑚𝑎𝑥 , the trajectory will be non-trackable, and the path
needs to be adjusted and regenerated as explained in Section II-
C. 2) if 𝜅 < κ𝑚𝑖𝑛 : = ω𝑚𝑎𝑥 /𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 , there will be always enough
rotation speed to match with the linear velocity and to maintain
the expected curvature. So the maximum linear velocity 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥
will always be used as 𝑣𝑖 , and the rotational velocity 𝜔𝑖 can be
determined by 𝜔𝑖 = κ𝑚𝑖𝑛 ⋅ 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 . 3) if κ𝑚𝑖𝑛 < 𝜅 < κ𝑚𝑎𝑥 , then
a matching 𝜔 can only found for limited 𝑣. In this case, the
maximum rotation velocity will be maintained. 𝜔𝑖 = 𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 , and
linear velocity is determined by 𝑣𝑖 = 𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 /𝜅. Finally, the 𝑣𝑖
and ωi can be determined as shown in Fig. 6.
Fig. 6 Determine Linear and Rotational Velocities Spatially
The second step is to assign the time dimension to 𝑣𝑖 and ωi
and transform them into 𝑣𝑡 and 𝜔𝑡 . This can be achieved by
determining a series of {Δ𝑡𝑖 } between all the 𝑃𝑖 . As shown in Fig.
2, if we look into the small time-interval between two adjacent
points 𝑃𝑖 and 𝑃𝑖+1 on the path, and view the 𝑣𝑖 and 𝜔𝑖 as
constant within this small time-interval, then (7) will hold. The
orientation angle 𝜃𝑖 along the path can be found using the first
order derivatives. Δ𝑡 can be calculated by (8) in the end.
𝛥𝑡𝑖
∫ 𝑣𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃𝑖 + 𝜔𝑖 𝑡) 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑥𝑖+1 − 𝑥𝑖 = Δ𝑥𝑖 (7)
0
 v𝑖 Δ𝑡 sin(𝜃𝑖 + 𝜔𝑖 Δ𝑡𝑖 ) − 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑖 𝑐1 𝑥𝑒
Δ𝑥𝑖 = sin(𝜃𝑖 + 𝜔𝑖 𝑡) |0 𝑖 = 𝜈 = 𝑣𝑟 + ,
𝜔𝑖 𝜅𝑖 √1 + 𝑥𝑒2 + 𝑦𝑒2
arcsin( Δ𝑥𝑖 ⋅ 𝜅𝑖 + 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑖 ) − 𝜃𝑖 𝜃𝑒 𝜃 (11)
(8) 𝑐2 𝑣𝑟 (𝑦𝑒 cos − 𝑥𝑒 sin 𝑒 )
Δ𝑡𝑖 =
𝜔𝑖 𝜔 = 𝜔𝑟 + 2 2 + 𝑐 sin 𝜃𝑒 .
3
2
√1 + 𝑥𝑒 + 𝑦𝑒2 2
Finally, by assigning this calculated series of time intervals
{Δ𝑡𝑖 } to all the points {𝑃𝑖 } on path, and assigning a timing of This control law design has an advantage that the control
zero moment to the starting point, 𝑣𝑖 and ωi will be transformed input will be bounded to 𝑣 ∈ [𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 , 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 ] and 𝜔 ∈ [0, 𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 ]
into 𝑣𝑡 and 𝜔𝑡 . Information of 𝑥𝑡 and 𝑦𝑡 can also be determined automatically; and that the control is of fast response with no
with a given starting point, as shown in Fig. 7. Now, the time-lagging item. Parameters 𝑐1 , 𝑐2 and 𝑐3 are positive
trajectory with improved trackability has been successfully constants which can be tuned subject to the velocity constraints.
generated. It has been shown in [12] that this controller can track a variety
of different trajectories accurately.

B. Trajectory Tracking Test 1 with Free Starting Point

Fig. 7 Trajectory Generation by Assigning Time to Velocities
III. CONTROLLER DESIGN AND SIMULATIONS
In this section, first, a suitable controller design is chosen for
this trajectory tracking problem of a unicycle-type robot. Then,
simulation tests are conducted to validation the overall tracking
performance of the system.
To test the performance of the proposed controller for
tracking the trajectory with improved trackability, a series of
simulation tests were conducted using Webots. Webots is a robot
simulator and a development environment that can conveniently
model, program and simulate mobile robots under various
operational environment. In real world application, most AGVs
are built on differential wheeled robot model of unicycle, in
which robot’s two wheels are independently driven to produce
linear and rotational motion. So in this simulation test, we
construct such a differential wheeled robot with a GPS simulator
on it, so that accurate real position and orientation information
can be obtained in real-time. The tracking error can be calculated
by (10) and be feed into programmable controllers to track a
reference trajectory, as shown in Fig. 8.

A. Trajectory Tracking Controller Design

As mentioned in Section II-A, for a real-world unicycle-type
robot trajectory tracking control, there are limits of 𝑣 ∈
[𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 , 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 ] and 𝜔 ∈ [0, 𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 ]. To adapt to these features, we
chose to design the controller based on the work [12]. According
[12], the reference trajectory [𝑥𝑟 (𝑡) 𝑦𝑟 (𝑡) 𝜃𝑟 (𝑡)]𝑇 , can be
generated by the reference linear velocity and angular velocity
[𝑣𝑟 (𝑡) 𝜔𝑟 (𝑡)]𝑇 as in (9),
𝑥̇ 𝑟 = 𝜈𝑟 cos 𝜃 ,
{ 𝑦̇𝑟 = 𝜈𝑟 sin 𝜃, (9)
𝜃̇𝑟 = 𝜔𝑟 . Fig. 8 Unicycle-type Robot used in Simulation Environment

The tracking error can be measured as a feedback in position To verify the tracking performance of the controller in the
domain as in (10), and the control law can be designed as in (11) simulation environment, the tracking Test 1 of a knot-shaped
to transform the feedback into velocity domain as control input. trajectory as in [12] is conducted on a flat ground in Webots, as
𝑥𝑒 shown in Fig. 9. Taking into account the actual size and
cos 𝜃 sin 𝜃 0 𝑥𝑟 − 𝑥 parameters of the robot, the reference trajectory is set in velocity
[ 𝑦𝑒 ] = [− sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃 0] [𝑦𝑟 − 𝑦 ], (10) space as 𝜈𝑟 (𝑡) = 1 and 𝜔𝑟 (𝑡) = 1.218 𝑐𝑜𝑠(0.24 𝑡)/
𝜃𝑒 0 0 1 𝜃𝑟 − 𝜃 (11.446 (𝑠𝑖𝑛(0.24 𝑡 2 ) + 1) . The velocity capability of the
robot is constrained within [𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 , 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 ] = [0.5,1.5]𝑚/𝑠, and
𝜔𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 5 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠 . To check the tracking capability of the
controller, a free starting point was set. Thus, the initial states
are respectively set to [𝑥𝑟 (0) 𝑦𝑟 (0) 𝜃𝑟 (0)]𝑇 = [0 0 0]𝑇 and
[𝑥(0) 𝑦 (0) 𝜃(0)]𝑇 = [−2 − 1 3.56]𝑇 .
Fig. 9 Tracking Performance on a Knot-shaped Trajectory
By properly tuning the coefficients as 𝑐1 =0.5, 𝑐2 = 10 and
𝑐3 = 5, a tracking results can be obtained as shown in Fig. 9. It
can be observed that with a non-zero initial state, the tracking
error can converge to zero, and afterwards, the robot can track
the reference trajectory accurately. The errors between actual
and reference velocities are shown in Fig. 10, it can be observed
that the actual velocities stay in the constrained ranges and the
errors converge to zero. Note that the values of heading angles
of the robot obtained directly from sensors can be discontinuous.
Since 𝜃 and 𝜃 + 2𝐾𝜋 with 𝐾 ∈ 𝑍 represent the same
orientation, some adjustments are taken to ensure the smooth
change of heading angle.
Fig. 10 Reference and Actual Controlled Velocities on Test 1
C. Trajectory Tracking Test 2 with Environmental Noise
To further test the tracking performance, an exaggerated Test
2 is conducted to evaluate the tracking errors with zero initial
state but strong environmental noise. In Test 2, the N-shaped
trajectory as generated in the example of Section II-D is used as
the reference, and the robot was running through a rough terrain.
Maximum fluctuation up to 0.5m is used to simulate the
environmental noise, as shown in Fig. 8. (notice that the radius
of robotic wheels is 0.05 m).
The overall tracking performance is shown in Fig. 11. The
red line represents the reference trajectory, and the black dots
denote the actual robot positions at every moment. It can be
observed that even with severe noise from the ground, the
reference trajectory can still be tracked well, and most of the
black dots are just overlapped on the red line.
Fig. 11 Tracking Performance on a Rough Terrain
The actually control velocities versus time are shown in Fig.
12, it can be seen that velocities always remain in the constrained
ranges. These test results successfully demonstrate that with the
proposed controller design, a unicycle-type robot can track a
trajectory with improved trackability accurately and robustly.
Fig. 12 Reference and Actual Controlled Velocities on Test 2
IV. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
To conclude, in this paper, a trajectory planning algorithm is
proposed to generate a trajectory with improved trackability for
a unicycle-type robot based on a jerky path provided by a global
path planning algorithm. This improved trajectory considers the
non-holonomic constraints of a unicycle model and the practical
speed constraints derived from limited motor capabilities. On
the other hand, a controller with no time-lagging characteristic
and with considerations of speed limits are chosen and adapted
for the trajectory tracking task. As a result, by combining the
improved trajectory as the reference, with the appropriate
controller as applied, a fast, accurate and robust trajectory
tracking performance can be achieved. This result is validated
by the simulation tests conducted in Section III.
This research can play very practical guidance for real-world
applications of AGVs and other mobile robots based on unicycle
model. This research suggests that two important aspects shall
be examined to achieve a good final tracking performance. First,
the target trajectory or reference trajectory needs to be examined
and polished to incorporate practical AGV dynamics and motor
capability constraints. Second, a suitable controller shall be
designed with these constraints. This paper introduces a method
as guide in both aspects, and eventually yields a robust trajectory
tracking performance. This method can be practically used in
real-world application.
For future work, we will further develop and apply these
trajectory tracking methods for more sophisticated multi-robots
control tasks. For example, to add necessary inter-controller and
to jointly control two AGVs to transport goods cooperatively
and move together along an expected trajectory.
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