Abstract
A new technique is presented for the minimization of jerk for wheeled mobile robots (WMRs) traveling on uneven terrain. A robot may jerk as it traverses a road obstacle. Consequently, wheel-ground contact loss is one of the undesirable dynamic effects that can cause loss of control and robot instability. By considering the dynamics of the robot with respect to the longitudinal, pitching and vertical motions of the platform, the new technique calculates the dynamic compensation needed to ideally counter the onset of jerk by controlling the magnitude of the input drive torque to the wheels. Simulation results showed that the technique has the potential to substantially reduce the magnitude of jerk of a WMR during longitudinal maneuver over a road obstacle with a positive gradient.
