Modeling of slip for wheeled mobile robots

Wheeled mobile robots (WMRs) are known to be non-holonomic systems, and most dynamic models of WMRs assume that the wheels undergo rolling without slipping. This paper deals with the problem of modeling and simulation of motion of a WMR when the conditions for rolling are not satisfied at the wheels. The authors use a traction model where the adhesion coefficient between the wheels of a WMR and a hard flat surface is a function of the wheel slip. This traction model is used in conjunction with the dynamic equations of motion to simulate the motion of the WMR. The simulations show that controllers which do not take into account wheel slip give poor tracking performance for the WMR and path deviation is small only for large adhesion coefficients. This work shows the importance of wheel slip and suggests use of accurate traction models for improving tracking performance of a WMR.>