Dynamic Analysis and Motion Control of a Spherical Robot on Non-Flat Surfaces

Spherical robots are the mobile robots with spherical shapes equipped to an internal drive mechanism that moves on the ground due to their external shell rolling. In this research, first, a pendulum spherical robot is modeled, then using the Lagrange method, dynamic equations of plane motion of robot on the non-flat surface are derived. Considering the scarcity of the number of operators relative to the number of degrees of freedom of the spherical robot, designing of a non-linear controller is performed based on feedback linearization techniques. Therefore, regarding non-confirm initial conditions on the trajectory, parametric uncertainty and disturbance torque on the robot, the performance of the system has been investigated. By selecting the appropriate rotation trajectory, the robot motion is simulated in MATLAB software and in following the pendulum rotation angle and actuating torque are obtained. The results indicate that the designed controller has proper and resistant performance in tracking selected trajectory for sphere shell rotation during moving on a non-flat surface.