MPC-based Unified Trajectory Planning and Tracking Control Approach for Automated Guided Vehicles

Autonomous navigation of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in manufacturing environment is an important part of industrial automation. This paper presents an MPC-based unified trajectory planning and tracking control approach for AGVs. Based on the model of the AGV, improved path planning and reference velocity planning techniques are developed. Then a model predictive controller is designed to track the generated trajectory. In addition, obstacle avoidance capability is also incorporated in the navigation framework. To evaluate the proposed method, simulations and experiments are conducted. The results show that the AGV can achieve high trajectory tracking accuracy with smooth movement.