Trajectory Following in Differential Drive Mobile Platform

This paper considers a trajectory tracking problem in motion control of a mobile platform. The platform is designed to have differential drive, Arduino microcontroller, Bluetooth connectivity and is battery powered, thus representing a complete mechatronic system. The task at this stage was to provide the platform motion along simple desired trajectories, such as straight lines and curves. During its motion, the platform draws its trajectory on the surface, upon which motion accuracy can be evaluated. Odometry approach is used in solving this task where each wheel motor is driven within a cascaded control structure with conventional digital controllers. Experimental results of several tests are presented and analyzed.