Trajectory Tracking Control of Tracked Vehicle with Consideration of Track Slip and Disturbance

Tracked locomotion systems have been widely used for vehicles operating in loose or uneven terrains, thanks to their superior traction. However, track slips and disturbances generated from the track-terrain interaction in such applications significantly affect the accuracy and efficiency of vehicle movement. In this paper, a novel control solution is proposed to deal with this problem. Firstly, the kinematics and dynamics of the vehicle are established, considering the constraints of the track locomotion, track slip, and disturbances. Secondly, the control law for driving torques is designed. In which, a radial basis function neural network is used to estimate the disturbances; ideal traction forces are designed following the backstepping method to ensure the convergence of both tracking and stabilization errors; and the corresponding driving torques are obtained to simultaneously achieve the required traction and compensate for the track slip. Then, simulation studies are conducted, where the proposed control system proves its superiority compared to an established control solution.