Asynchronous control of orientation and displacement in a robot vehicle

Abstract

The design of a general-purpose vehicle controller is presented. The controller organization is presented as a three-layer structure. The top layer is an interpreter which assures a control protocol based on asynchronous commands and independent control of orientation and forward displacement. The middle layer is control loop which maintains an estimate of the vehicle's position and orientation, as well as their uncertainties. This control loop generates commands for vehicle displacements in terms of a 'virtual vehicle'. The bottom layer is a translator between the 'virtual vehicle' and the physical vehicle on which the controller is implemented.<>