ISSN 2083-0157 IAPGOŚ 4/2014 89

DOI: 10.5604/20830157.1130204
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MOTION CONTROL SYSTEM OF AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOT

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Ivan Tsmots, Iryna Vavruk, Roman Tkachenko

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Lviv Polytechnic National University

Abstract. In this article the motion control system of autonomous mobile robot is described. Four motion modes: motion mode “to the target”, motion

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mode “obstacles avoidance”, motion mode “along the right wall” and motion mode “along the left wall” are implemented. A method for determining
the effective rotation angle of mobile robot which is a linear combination of rotation angles which are obtained in different motion modes and activation
coefficients is proposed. Fuzzy-oriented method with high accuracy and performance is used for motion modes implementation and for finding values
of activation coefficients.

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Keywords: mobile robot, motion control system, fuzzy logic, linear regression

SYSTEM STEROWANIA RUCHEM AUTONOMICZNEGO ROBOTA MOBILNEGO

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Streszczenie. W artykule opisano system sterowania ruchem autonomicznego robota mobilnego. Zaimplementowano cztery tryby ruchu: „do celu”,
„unikanie przeszkód”, „wzdłuż prawej ściany” oraz „wzdłuż lewej ściany”. Zaproponowano metodę do określania efektywnego kąta obrotu robota, która
jest liniową kombinacją kąta obrotu, który jest otrzymywany dla różnych trybów ruchu oraz współczynników aktywacji. Do implementacji trybów pracy

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oraz znalezienia wartości współczynników aktywacji użyto metodę rozmytą o dużej dokładności i wydajności.
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Słowa kluczowe: robot mobilny, system sterowania ruchem, logika rozmyta, regresja liniowa

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Introduction because it provides the possibility of mobile robot control even
in uncertain complex environment with noisy input data, which
Nowadays autonomous mobile robots can replace human can be obtained from sensors. The control system based on fuzzy

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resources at various branches of industry. Mobile robots are used logic is used for implementing motion control of mobile robot due
to solve certain household tasks (for example autonomous vacuum to its capabilities of inference and approximate reasoning under
cleaners, lawn mowers etc.), to perform tasks in dangerous uncertainty. But the main drawback of usage fuzzy logic for
environments (for example they can be used for space and
underwater exploration, including other planets or the world's
oceans), for military applications as well as for surveillance,
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control system of mobile robots is the exponentially increasing the
size of rule base with the number of input variables [2-4, 9, 12].
One of the main requirement for mobile robots motion control
search, security work and so on [5, 6, 8, 13, 16]. is the fast response to events, especially when mobile robots
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Mobile robots can be used at cluttered environments with a lot operate in a dynamic environment. An effective solution is the
of obstacles, environments with high uncertainty and dynamically usage of behavior-based control which provides a rule base
changing environments. Therefore, the vital task is to use the division for several parts and its parallel implementation. Each
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intelligent control system for mobile robots motion control that motion mode of mobile robot is implemented by a part of fuzzy
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provides independent tasks execution at an uncertain environment. logic rule base.

There are several approaches for implementation of mobile Different methods of fuzzy logic can be used for motion
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robot control system [1, 7, 10, 11, 13]: modes implementation. The most common is the using of fuzzy
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 Reactive Control. This is an approach that can be used inference system Mamdani for motion control system of mobile
at dynamic, non-structured, unknown environment. Its control robot. It provides rule base creating with the usage of the human
signals are based on current sensory information. The main experience. The main drawback of this method is that it ensures
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drawback of such approach is the impossibility of mobile a low accuracy due to the output variable dependence
robots learning and lack of memory. of the defuzzification method. The calculation needed to carry out
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 Deliberative Control. This is an approach which is based any of defuzzification operations is time-consuming. Rapid
on sensing, planning and action. In this case, the entire response to unforeseen events is critical in the development
information about the environment is used for decision of mobile robot motion control system. So, it’s necessary to use
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making about the action. The drawback of such approach fuzzy-oriented method that provides the necessary accuracy
is that it can be used basically at static structured environment and performance.
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because of using a lot of time for planning.

 Hybrid Control. This is an approach that combines the reactive 1. Development the system of mobile robot control
and deliberative control systems. But the interaction of
for

deliberative and reactive components needs an intermediary, The main purpose of mobile robot is to achieve the goal
at uncertain environment without collision with obstacles. Such
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whose design is typically the greatest challenge of this system.

The main drawback is the complexity of adaptation when new motion modes as: “to the target” ,“obstacles avoidance”, “along
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tasks of mobile robot motion control arrive. the right wall” and “along the left wall” are implemented for this
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 Behavior-Based Control. This approach integrates several purpose. The implementation of each motion mode is carried out
behaviors of mobile robots that can be implemented using a method based on fuzzy logic.
simultaneously. Each of behavior can be based on reactive The input data received from sensors and machine vision
system. The input linguistic variables for motion mode obstacles
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control. So, the combination of them can be used for

developing more complex and fast control systems. The main avoidance, motion mode along the right wall and motion mode
advantage of this approach is the possibility to adapt along the left wall are the distance to obstacles at front side, right
side and left side of mobile robot. The input linguistic variable
is c

the robotic system for performing any tasks which are carried
out by adding additional modules that implement desired for motion mode to the target is an angle that calculates
motion modes. as difference between the direction to mobile robot motion
Various methods of artificial intelligence use to implement and the direction to the target. The output linguistic variable
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intelligent control system of mobile robots. Most commonly fuzzy of each motion mode is a rotation angle of mobile robot.
logic, artificial neural networks and neuro-fuzzy systems are used The value of output data influences for forming control signals
for this purpose. An effective method is the usage of fuzzy logic, which comes to actuator of mobile robot. Depending on the type
of mobile robot the following control signals as linear and angular
velocity or rotation angle of wheels can be used.
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artykuł recenzowany/revised paper IAPGOS, 2014, nr 4, 89-93

 90 IAPGOŚ 4/2014 ISSN 2083-0157

The rotation angles which are obtained in different motion any known algorithms of FIS. A software TController Workshop
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modes are used to determine the effective rotation angle of mobile is used for implementation T- controller [14, 15].
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robot. We propose to use a method for determining the effective Values that represent the entire domain of definition
rotation angle of mobile robot which is a linear combination of the linguistic variable are used as input data for T-controller.
of rotation angles which are obtained in different motion modes We use 567 values as the size of the database to simulate such

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and activation coefficients, which represent the degree motion modes as: “obstacle avoidance”, “along the right wall”
of activation for each motion mode as follows: and “along the left wall”. We use 19 values as the size of the
database to simulate motion mode “to the target”. We use 3969
  T1q1  T2 q2  T3q3  T4 q4 (1)

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values as the size of the database to simulate the finding
where T1 , T2 , T3 , T4 are the activation coefficients of each of activation coefficients. All data from the databases are fed to
the input of T-controller, where they are used for finding crisp
motion mode, q1 , q 2 , q3 , q 4 are rotation angles which are

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values of output linguistic variables such as rotation angles and
obtained at different motion modes. activation coefficients. The same data are used for finding values
The same input linguistic variables are used for determining Fy1...Fy3 and Ft1...Ft5 . The method of least squares is proposed
the activation coefficients. That is, the input linguistic variables
for calculating the linear regression model coefficients.

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are the distance to the obstacles and an angle that calculates
as difference between the direction to mobile robot motion After finding coefficients of linear regression model
and the direction to the target. The output linguistic variable is the equation (2) for developed rule base is determined as follows:
the value of the activation coefficients, which ranges from 0 to 1.  For motion mode “along the right wall”:

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Membership functions are identical for all activation coefficients q1  (0,00495)  (89,9942) Fy1 
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which determine the degree of activation for motion modes. (4)

 0,01008Fy2  89,99874 Fy3

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Triangular membership functions are selected as they are easy
to implement.  For motion mode “along the left wall”:
There are three linguistic terms for input linguistic variables
that represent the distances to the obstacles. They determine q2  0,00495  (89,9987) Fy1 

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(5)
a small, middle and large distance to the obstacles at the right  (0,01008) Fy2  89,99424 Fy3
of mobile robot, at the front and at the left. The input linguistic
variable which represents an angle that calculates as difference  For motion mode “obstacle avoidance”:
between the direction to mobile robot motion and the direction
to the target is described by linguistic terms which perform
-d q3  6,43806  (14,05017) Fy1 
(6)
location of a target according to mobile robot: at the right  (8,55846) Fy2  21,73932Fy3
(«Negative»), straight ahead («Zero») and at the left («Positive»).
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Output linguistic variable of each motion modes which determines  For motion mode “to the target”:
the rotation angle of mobile robot is described by linguistic terms q4  (90,01872) Fy1  1,70478  109 Fy2 
which perform turning to the right, moving straight and turning (7)
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to the left respectively. Output linguistic variable which represents  90,01872 Fy3
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the value of activation coefficients for each of motion modes After finding coefficients of linear regression model
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contains five linguistic terms. the equation (3) for developed rule base is determined as follows:
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Fuzzy-oriented method, which provides the necessary  For motion mode “along the right wall”:
accuracy and performance should be used for finding the output
values of motion modes and activation coefficients. We propose T1  0,0693  (0,069293) Ft1  (0,234891) Ft 2 
(8)
to use a method where the stages of accumulation and  0,875218Ft3  0,36326 Ft 4  1,018323Ft5
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defuzzification are replaced by multiple linear regression model.

 For motion mode “along the left wall”:
It would reduce the computational complexity and improve
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the efficiency of motion control of mobile robot. Three terms T2  0,069298  (0,06929) Ft1  (0,234895) Ft 2 
(9)
of output linguistic variable are used to calculate the rotation angle  0,875195Ft3  0,363257 Ft 4  1,018326 Ft5
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of each motion mode so the linear regression equation

 For motion mode “obstacle avoidance”:
is determined as follows:
T3  0,069273  (0,06919) Ft1  (0,234971) Ft 2 
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qi  a0  a1Fy1  a2 Fy2  a3 Fy3 (2) (10)

 0,875266 Ft3  0,36325Ft 4  1,018607 Ft5
where a0 , a1 , a 2 , a3 are coefficients of linear regression model,
 For motion mode “to the target”:
Fy1...Fy3 are values, which are obtained after passing stages T4  0,069361  (0,069367) Ft1  (0,234868) Ft 2 
for

(11)
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of fuzzification, aggregation and activation; qi is a value of the

 0,875175Ft3  0,363215Ft 4  1,018219 Ft5
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rotation angle of some motion mode of mobile robot i  1,4 . During the motion control of mobile robot, input data which
y is

Five terms of output linguistic variable are used to calculate are obtained from sensors and machine vision system passes
the value of activation coefficients so the linear regression stages of fuzzification, aggregation and activation. These obtained
equation is determined as follows: values are substituted into the equation of linear regression (4-11)
and the desired output value is obtained.
Ti  b0  b1Ft1  b2 Ft 2  b3 Ft3  b4 Ft 4  b5 Ft5
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(3)
where b0 , b1 , b2 , b3 , b4 , b5 are coefficient of linear regression; 2. Simulation of the system for mobile robot
is c

Ft1 , Ft2 , Ft3 , Ft4 , Ft5 are values, which are obtained after motion control
passing stages of fuzzification, aggregation and activation; Ti We propose to compare the proposed fuzzy-oriented method
is a value of activation coefficient i  1,4 . of mobile robot motion control with one of the most common FIS
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Mamdani. The comparison was carried out under identical

Fuzzy-neural T-controller is used to determine the coefficients
conditions using the same values of membership functions
of linear regression. It is based on fuzzy geometrical
and fuzzy logic rule base. The simulation is performed in C #
transformation model. The main advantage of this model
at the software Visual Studio 2010.
is a providing of a high precision of operation in comparison with
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 ISSN 2083-0157 IAPGOŚ 4/2014 91
Let us consider the motion of mobile robot to the target. Fig. 1
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shows the X-Y path of mobile robot. Initial conditions: the center
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of mobile robot is located at coordinates (X = 30; Y = 15),

the target is located at: (X = 180; Y = 180).
The goal is reached with the using of proposed method

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and FIS Mamdani (Fig. 1). But it is clear that the frequent changes
of the rotation angle of mobile robot is carried out with the usage
of Mamdani FIS at the beginning of moving. The centroid method

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for defuzzification which is used at Mamdani FIS depends on the
shape of the membership function of the output. Different rotation
angles are obtained at different motion modes during mobile robot

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motion. A negative value of rotation angles indicates turning
a) mobile robot to the right, positive value of rotation angles
indicates turning mobile robot to the left. Fig. 2 shows the values
of rotation angles for motion mode “along the right wall” using

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the proposed method and Mamdani FIS.
The value of the rotation angle (Fig. 2a, c) without activating
coefficients is reduced to a maximum value when there are no

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obstacles at the right of mobile robot. When there are no obstacles

at the right of mobile robot, the activation coefficient is close to
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zero. So the rotation angle of mobile robot with activation

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coefficient is close to zero too in this case. There were two
obstacles at the right of mobile robot during its movement so the
value of rotation angle is slightly varies at the beginning and at the

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b) end of route with the usage of proposed method and Mamdani
Fig. 1. X-Ypath of mobile robot: a) with the usage of Mamdani FIS; b) with the usage
FIS. At Fig. 3 you can see output values for motion mode “along
of developed fuzzy–oriented method for motion modes implementation the left wall”.

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a) b)
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c) d)
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Fig. 2. Output values for motion mode “along the right wall”: the rotation angle without activating coefficient using the Mamdani FIS (a); the rotation angle without activating
coefficient using the proposed fuzzy-oriented method (c), the rotation angle with activation coefficient using the Mamdani (b), the rotation angle with activation coefficient using
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the proposed method (d)

for
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This copy is for personal use only - distribution prohibited.

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a) b)
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is c
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c) d)

Fig. 3. Output values for motion mode “along the left wall”: the rotation angles without activating coefficient using the Mamdani FIS (a), the rotation angles without activating
coefficient using the proposed fuzzy-oriented method (c) the rotation angle with activation coefficient using the Mamdani (b), the rotation angle with activation coefficient using
the proposed method (d)
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 92 IAPGOŚ 4/2014 ISSN 2083-0157

Obstacles at the left are absent almost the entire path of mobile Therefore the resulting rotation angle of this motion mode
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robot. So, the value of rotation angle without activating (Fig. 4b, d) is close to zero almost during the entire path of mobile
robot. At Fig. 5 you can see output values for motion mode “to the
This copy is for personal use only - distribution prohibited.

coefficients (Fig. 3a, c) increases to the maximum value (about 60

degrees for Mamdani FIS and about 90 degrees for the developed target”.
method) which indicates movement to the left. The activation The oscillation of rotation angle of mobile robot occurs at the

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coefficient is close to zero and therefore the resulting rotation beginning of the movement at Mamdani FIS (Fig. 5a). So, it
angle is close to zero too. At the end of the path a wall at the left remains at the rotation angle with activation coefficient (Fig. 5b).
of mobile robot can be considered as obstacle. At Fig. 4 you can With the usage of developed method the mobile robot moves to

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see output values for motion mode “obstacle avoidance”. the target with minor adjustments (Fig. 5c, d).
Obstacles at the front of mobile robot are absent almost during Fig. 6 shows the resulting values of mobile robot rotation
the entire path except the end when goal is near wall. So, the value angles, values of distance to the target by using the proposed

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of rotation angle without activating coefficients (Fig. 4a, c) method and by using Mamdani FIS.
are closed to zero and became increasing only at the end of route.

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a) b)

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c) d) -d
Fig. 4. Output values for motion mode “obstacle avoidance”: the rotation angles without activating coefficient using the Mamdani FIS (a) the rotation angles without activating
coefficient using the proposed fuzzy-oriented method (c), the rotation angle with activation coefficient using the Mamdani (b), the rotation angle with activation coefficient using
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the proposed method (d)
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This copy is for personal use only - distribution prohibited.

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a) b)
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c) d)
Fig. 5. Output values for motion mode “to the target”: the rotation angles without activating coefficient using the Mamdani FIS (a) the rotation angles without activating
coefficient using the proposed fuzzy-oriented method (c), the rotation angle with activation coefficient using the Mamdani (b), the rotation angle with activation coefficient using
the proposed method (d)
for
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This copy is for personal use only - distribution prohibited.

y is
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a) b)
is c
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c) d)
Fig. 6. Resulting values of rotation angle of mobile robot using Mamdani FIS (a), resulting values of rotation angle of mobile robot using proposed method (c), distance
to the target by using Mamdani FIS (b) distance to the target by using proposed method (d)
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 ISSN 2083-0157 IAPGOŚ 4/2014 93
Fig. 6a shows the resulting rotation angle of mobile robot [2] Benbouabdallah K., Qi-dan Z.: A Fuzzy Logic Behavior Architecture Controller
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for a Mobile Robot Path Planning in Multi-obstacles Environment Research,

using the Mamdani FIS and it is significantly oscillated at the Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology, 5(14), 2013,
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beginning of the movement. The resulting value of the rotation 3835-3842.

angle of mobile robot using the proposed method (Fig. 6c) [3] Cherroun L., Boumehraz M.: Designing of Goal Seeking and Obstacle
changes at the beginning of the mobile robot movement, but this Avoidance Behaviors for a Mobile Robot Using Fuzzy Techniques,

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J. Automation & Systems Engineering, 6-4, 2012, 164-171.

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deviation are not so large and ended when mobile robot pass [4] Chonnaparamutt W., Birk A.: A Fuzzy Controller for Autonomous Negotiation
obstacles. Values of distance to the target (Fig. 6b, d) have almost of Stairs by a Mobile Robot with Adjustable Tracks, RoboCup 2007: Robot
the same and decreasing with using Mamdani FIS and proposed WorldCup XI, Lecture Notes in Articial Intelligence (LNAI), Springer, 2008.

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[5] Cruz D., McClintock J., Perteet B., Orqueda O., Cao Y., Fierro R.:
method. Decentralized cooperative control: A multivehicle platform for research
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[6] Egerstedt M.: Control of Autonomous Mobile Robots, Birkhäuser, Cambridge

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[8] Korsunskiy V. A.: Povysheniye effektivnosti mobil'nykh robotov putem
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mobile robot akkumulyatora energii, Nauka i obrazovaniye, No. FS77-48211/2013, 125-134,
(in Russian) DOI: 10.7463/0513.0566233.
[9] Leyden M, obstacles
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for a mobile Robot, Automatisierungs symposium Wismar, 1999.

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0 [10] Nakhaeinia D., Tang S. H., Mohd Noor S. B., Motlagh O.: A review of control
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[11] Nattharith P.: Fuzzy logic based control of mobile robot navigation: A case
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bstacles target University–Engineering Sciences, 05/2013, 1-9.
[13] Senthilkumar K. S.: A Study of Behavior-based and Role-based Autonomous
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[15] Tkatchenko O.: T-Controller Workshop User Manual: Sapienware Corporation,
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secheniyem, Neftegazovoye delo, No. 3, 2011, 73-83 (in Russian).

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Fig. 7. X-Ypath of mobile robot with the usage of developed fuzzy–oriented method
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for motion modes implementation at cluttered environment Prof. Ivan Tsmots

e-mail: [email protected]
us

Fig. 7 shows the effectiveness of proposed motion control

Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor of the
system with developed method for motion modes implementation Automated Control Systems Department at Lviv
of mobile robot at cluttered environment. Polytechnic National University.
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Research interests: Methods and algorithms for

parallel computation, information technology of signal
3. Conclusions processing in real time, mobile robot.
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Behavior-Based Control is proposed for motion control system

implementation with the usage of four motion modes. It gives the
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possibility to reach the target without collision with obstacles and M.Sc. Iryna Vavruk
to adapt the robotic system for performing any tasks by adding e-mail: [email protected]
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additional modules. A method for determining the effective

Junior Research Fellow of the Automated Control
rotation angle of mobile robot is proposed as a linear combination Systems Department at Lviv Polytechnic National
of rotation angles which are obtained in different motion modes University.
for

and activation coefficients. Such approach provides motion Research interests: Intelligent control systems of
control of mobile robot without collisions with obstacles in mobile robot, fuzzy logic.
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uncertain environments. Fuzzy-oriented method with high

This copy is for personal use only - distribution prohibited.

accuracy and performance is used for motion modes

y is

implementation and finding values of activation coefficients

Prof. Roman Tkachenko
which is the combination of fuzzy logic and linear regression e-mail: [email protected]
model. Simulation result shows the effectiveness of proposed
motion control system. The comparison of proposed fuzzy- Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor of the
op

Information Technology Publishing Department

oriented method with Mamdani FIS for implementation of each at Lviv Polytechnic National University.
motion mode shows that movement of mobile robot is more Research interests: Fuzzy logic and neural networks.
accurate with using proposed fuzzy-oriented method. He is one of the authors of T-Controller fuzzy logic
is c

system.

References
[1] Arena P., Fortuna L., Frasca M., Patané L., Pavone M.: Towards autonomous
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adaptive behavior in a bio-inspired CNN-controlled robot, Proceedings otrzymano/received: 2014.04.08 przyjęto do druku/accepted: 2014.05.20
of the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems ISCAS 2006.
-