Multi-aspect Optimal Sliding Mode Controller for a Mecanum Wheeled Robot

Four-wheel drive Mecanum robots have gained attention due to their ability to move in all directions, which allows them to work in tight and complex environments. For this reason, ensuring precise control of these robots along predefined trajectories is crucial. This work presents a comparative study on the effects of parametric uncertainties, external disturbances, measurement noises, and initial deviations on the trajectory-tracking performance of a 4-wheel drive Mecanum robot. First, the kinematic and kinetic models of the Mecanum robot are introduced. Then, the integral sliding mode control is designed, and proof of stability is provided. In addition, we explore other control strategies, including PID, feedback linearization, sliding mode, and adaptive sliding mode control, that are designed for this robot. Furthermore, the particle swarm optimization algorithm is hired for the controllers with a cost function as the total sum of average error, maximum error, and final error. Optimization has been done on all controllers to compare the results fairly. To appraise the effectiveness of the proposed control optimization methods, simulations are carried out in MATLAB/Simulink. The results reveal that the proposed ISMC method performs best in both defined scenarios compared to other controllers. However, it must be noted that the ISMC controller exhibits limitations when facing significant uncertainties in the dynamic model. This study underscores the effectiveness of our proposed control method and provides valuable insights into the practical implementation controller for the Mecanum robot in real-world applications.