Lunar rover traction control based on autonomous behavior agent

In this article, a lunar rover traction control method based on autonomous behavior agent is investigated. When the six-wheeled rover free-ranges in an unknown environment, a problem that arises naturally, is that adding tracking specifications to the coordinated motion makes things more complicated by the distribution of each wheel's rotating torque according to the terrain feature and the rover maneuverability. First, we real time produce appropriate rotating torques to let the rover tracking a path guider, actually a virtual rover, using autonomous behaviour agent method. This part works as kinematics control loop. Then, a force distribution, including terrain feature and the rover maneuverability, are designed to control wheels turning to produce specified torques. And this part acts as dynamics control loop. Also, we provide a group of simulation results. The virtue of the method is that it is easy to implement in practice, and can be easily be transferred between different platforms.