Safe navigation of a differential drive mobile Robot using a PID controller

Abstract

The autonomous wheeled mobile robots are very interesting subject both in scientific research and practical applications. They are considered from several different perspectives mainly, engineering and computer science levels. This project deals with the modeling and control of mobile robots combining the differential drive robot and unicycle models which will be simulated using a PID controller. The PID controller is based on feedback and tries to minimize the error using well-tuned parameters. The Odometry has been used to identify the distance traveled by the robot. The sensing circuitry mounted on the robot provides the feedback data to assure a safe outdoor navigation in a hostile environment. The Hybrid Automata principle provides a switching logic between the designed controllers. In this report, linear algebra is applied to develop a satisfying and stable model which is simulated using a MATLAB based simulator called "Sim.I.am" that allows the design and implementation of controllers on the robot.