Modeling and control of pitching motion of a wheeled mobile robot with variable-pitch blades

This paper presents a control strategy for a wheeled mobile robot with variable pitch blades which make it highly mobile over irregular terrain. A mathematical model with respect to pitching motion of the robot necessary to climb a stair is developed, and then a nonlinear controller for the pitching motion is proposed, employing input-output linearization technique together with integral sliding mode control to provide robust performance against model uncertainties such as ground adhesion properties.