Control of
Mobile Robots
Dr. Magnus Egerstedt
Professor
School of Electrical and
Computer Engineering
Module 1
Introduction to Controls
How make mobile robots move in effective, safe,
predictable, and collaborative ways using modern
control theory?
School
of
Electrical
and
Computer
Engineering
Lecture 1.1 Control of Mobile Robots
Magnus Egerstedt
Professor, School of Electrical
and Computer Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology
Two research thrusts:
Control theory
Robotics
Research domains
Swarm robotics
Behavior-based control
Field robotics
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.1.1
[Link]
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.1.2
Control of Mobile Robots
Whats in the course?
Control theory
Robot models
Mobility controllers
Applications
Whats not in the course?
AI
Perception
Mechanical engineering
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.1.3
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.1.4
Course Mechanics
Lectures (8 each week, 7 weeks)
Weekly quizzes + glue lectures
Additional material
[Link] MATLAB robot simulator
Build you own robot
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.1.5
A Disclaimer
3(mw + m
b )v
2 sin
d
mb
L(
R
cos
mb d cos 2
+
)
I
2
+ b d si
m
2 sin +
n ( 2 + 2
d
)2 = m 1gd sin =
b
m
2
1 )m w + 2
+ b ( L + R )
s
co
+ mb d sin
)
I
R
d
3
m
2
(
2
b
+
+ s2R
co
d
m
b
L
3
((
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
R)
1.1.6
Lecture 1.2 Whats Control Theory, Anyway?
System = Something that changes over time
Control = Influence that change
Examples:
Robots
Epidemics
Stock markets
Thermostats
Circuits
Engines
Power grids
Autopilots
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.2.1
The Basic Building Blocks
State = Representation of what the system is currently doing
Dynamics = Description of how the state changes
Reference = What we want the system to do
Output = Measurement of (some aspects of the) system
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.2.2
The Basic Building Blocks
State = Representation of what the system is currently doing
Dynamics = Description of how the state changes
Reference = What we want the system to do
Output = Measurement of (some aspects of the) system
Input = Control signal
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.2.2
The Basic Building Blocks
State = Representation of what the system is currently doing
Dynamics = Description of how the state changes
Reference = What we want the system to do
Output = Measurement of (some aspects of the) system
Input = Control signal
Feedback = Mapping from outputs to inputs
+
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.2.2
Back to the Examples
Robots
Epidemics
Stock markets
Thermostats
Circuits
Engines
Power grids
Autopilots
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.2.3
Lecture 1.3 On the Need for Models
Control Theory = How pick the input signal u?
Objectives:
Stability
Tracking
Robustness
Disturbance rejection
Optimality
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.3.1
Dynamical Models
Effective control strategies rely on predictive models
Discrete time:
xk+1 = f (xk , uk )
Difference equation
Example: Clock
xk+1 = xk + 1
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.3.2
Discrete Time Clock
10
10
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.3.3
Dynamics = Change Over Time
Laws of Physics are all in continuous time: Instead of next
state, we need derivatives with respect to time
Continuous time:
dx
= f (x, u) x = f (x, u)
Differential equation
dt
Clock:
x = 1
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.3.4
Continuous Time Clock
10
10
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.3.5
From Continuous to Discrete
But in implementation, everything is discrete/sampled!
x = f (x, u)
Sample time: t
xk = x(k t) ) xk+1 = x((k + 1) t) =???
x(k t + t) x(k t) + tx(k
t)
xk+1 = xk + tf (xk , uk )
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.3.6
Lecture 1.4 - Cruise-Controllers
Make a car drive at a desired, reference speed (r)
Newtons Second Law:
F = ma
State: velocity (x)
Input: gas/brake (u)
Dynamics:
F = cu
(c=electro-mechanical
transmission coefficient)
c
x = a ) mx = cu ) x = u
m
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.4.1
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.4.2
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.4.3
Control Design
Assume that we measure the velocity (y=x)
The control signal should be a function of r-y (=e)
What properties should the control signal have?
Small e gives small u
u should not be jerky
u should not depend on us knowing c and m exactly
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.4.4
Lecture 1.5 Control Design Basics
Car Model:
c
x = u
m
Want
x ! r as t ! 1 (e = r
Attempt 1
8
< umax
umax
u=
:
0
x ! 0)
if e > 0
if e < 0
if e = 0
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.5.1
Bang-Bang Control
80
r=70
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
5
t
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
10
1.5.2
Bang-Bang Control
100
80
Bumpy
ride
Burns
out
actuators
.
60
40
20
BAD!
20
40
60
80
100
5
t
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
10
1.5.3
P-Regulators
Problem: The controller over-reacts to small errors
Attempt 2
u = ke
Small error yields small control signals
Nice and smooth
So-called proportional regulation (P-regulator)
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.5.4
P-Regulator
60
55
50
Problem: r=70 (and not 60)???
45
40
Nice and smooth!
And STABLE!
35
30
25
20
15
10
0.5
1.5
2.5
t
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
3.5
4.5
1.5.5
Stability But Not Tracking
Caveat: The real model is augmented to include a windresistance term:
c
x = u
x
m
This is the model used for simulating the controller
At steady-state (x does not change any more)
c
c
x = 0 = u
x = k(r x)
x ) (ck + m )x = ckr
m
m
ck
x=
r<r
ck + m
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.5.6
Lecture 1.6 Performance Objectives
A controller should:
Stability (BIBO)
Tracking
Robustness
c
x = u
m
Problem: All of a sudden we
have to know all these physical
parameters that we typically do
not know Not robust!
Attempt 3
m
u = ke +
x
c
c
x = 0 = k(r x) + x
m
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
Tracking!
x ) x=r
1.6.1
P-Regulator
60
55
50
Take
the
integral
over
the
error!
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
0.5
1.5
2.5
t
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
3.5
4.5
1.6.2
PI-Regulators
Attempt 4
u(t) = kP e(t) + kI
e( )d
0
Or, why not a PID-Regulator?
Z t
de(t)
u(t) = kP e(t) + kI
e( )d + kD
dt
0
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.6.3
PI-Regulator
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0.5
1.5
2.5
t
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
3.5
4.5
1.6.4
Lecture 1.7 PID Control
de(t)
u(t) = kP e(t) + kI
e( )d + kD
dt
0
P: Contributes to stability, medium-rate responsiveness
I: Tracking and disturbance rejection, slow-rate
responsiveness. May cause oscillations
D: Fast-rate responsiveness. Sensitive to noise
PID: By far the most used low-level controller.
Note: Stability is not guaranteed.
Feedback has a remarkable ability
to fight uncertainty in model parameters!
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.7.1
Cruise-Controller (Again)
c
x = u
m
c = 1, m = 1,
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
= 0.1, r = 1
1.7.2
Cruise-Controller (Again)
Step Response
0.5
0.45
0.4
Amplitude
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
kP = 1, kI = 0, kD = 0
5
Time (sec)
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
10
1.7.3
Cruise-Controller (Again)
Step Response
1
0.9
0.8
Amplitude
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
5
Time (sec)
10
kP = 1, kI = 1, kD = 0
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.7.4
Cruise-Controller (Again)
Step Response
1.4
1.2
Amplitude
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
5
Time (sec)
10
kP = 1, kI = 10, kD = 0
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.7.5
Cruise-Controller (Again)
Step Response
1
0.9
0.8
Amplitude
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
5
Time (sec)
10
kP = 1, kI = 1, kD = 0.1
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.7.6
Lecture 1.8 Implementation
Z
de(t)
u(t) = kP e(t) + kI
e( )d + kD
dt
0
How turn something as strange as an integral into something
implementable?
enew eold
t (sample time) e
t
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.8.1
Lecture 1.8 Implementation
Z
de(t)
u(t) = kP e(t) + kI
e( )d + kD
dt
0
How turn something as strange as an integral into something
implementable?
enew eold
t (sample time) e
t
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.8.1
Lecture 1.8 Implementation
Z
de(t)
u(t) = kP e(t) + kI
e( )d + kD
dt
0
How turn something as strange as an integral into something
implementable?
enew eold
t (sample time) e
t
Z t
N
X
e( )d
e(k t) t = tE
0
tEnew =
N
+1
X
k=0
e(k t) =
te((N + 1) t) +
tEold
k=1
Enew = Eold + e
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.8.1
Implementation
Each time the controller is called
read e;!
!e_dot=e-old_e;!
!E=E+e;!
!u=kP*e+kD*e_dot+kI*E;!
!old_e=e;!
Note: The coefficients now include the sample time
and must be scaled accordingly
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.8.2
Module 1: Introduction to Control
That (almost) concludes Module 1
Module 2: Mobile robots
Module 3: What did we really do in Module 1?
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
of
Technology
1.8.3
Example: Quadrotor Altitude Control
x
= cu
u = kP e + kI
Magnus
Egerstedt,
Control
of
Mobile
Robots,
Georgia
Ins<tute
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g
ed + kD e
1.8.4
