In this paper we propose a sensor-based navigation method for navigation of wheeled mobile robot, based on the Kohonen self-organising map (SOM). We discuss a sensor-based approach to path design and control of wheeled mobile robot in an unknown 2-D environment with static obstacles. A strategy of reactive navigation is developed including two main behaviours: a reaching the middle of a collision-free space behaviour, and a goal-seeking behaviour. Each low-level behaviour has been designed at design stage and then fused to determine a proper actions acting on the environment at running stage. The combiner can fuse low-level behaviours so that the mobile robot can go for the goal position without colliding with obstacles one for the convex obstacles and one for the concave ones. The combiner is a softswitch, based on the idea of artificial potential fields, that chooses more then one action to be active with diRerent degrees at each time step. The output of the navigation level is fed into a neural tracking controller that takes into account the dynamics of the mobile robot. The purpose of the neural controller is to generate the commands for the servo-systems of the robot so it may choose its way to its goal autonomously, while reacting in real-time to unexpected events. Computer simulation has been conducted to illustrate the performance of the proposed solution by a series of experiments on the emulator of wheeled mobile robot Pioneer-2DX.

In this work, a novel approach to designing an on-line tracking controller for a nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot (WMR) is presented. The controller consists of nonlinear neural feedback compensator, PD control law and supervisory element, which assure stability of the system. Neural network for feedback compensation is learned through approximate dynamic programming (ADP). To obtain stability in the learning phase and robustness in face of disturbances, an additional control signal derived from Lyapunov stability theorem based on the variable structure systems theory is provided. Verification of the proposed control algorithm was realized on a wheeled mobile robot Pioneer–2DX, and confirmed the assumed behavior of the control system.

The paper presents the results of experimental verification on using a zero-sum differential game and H ∞ control in the problems of tracking and stabilizing motion of a wheeled mobile robot (WMR). It is a new approach to the synthesis of input-output systems based on the theory of dissipative systems in the sense of the possibility of their practical application. This paper expands upon the problem of optimal control of a nonlinear, nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot by including the reduced impact of changing operating condtions and possible disturbances of the robot’s complex motion. The proposed approach is based on the H∞ control theory and the control is generated by the neural approximation solution to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation. Our verification experiments confirm that the H∞ condition is met for reduced impact of disturbances in the task of tracking and stabilizing the robot motion in the form of changing operating conditions and other disturbances, which made it possible to achieve high accuracy of motion.