J. Cent. South Univ. Technol.

(2007)05−0679−06
DOI: 10.1007/s11771−007−0130−0

Dynamic modeling and simulation for

nonholonomic welding mobile robot
ZHANG Ke(张 轲)1, WU Yi-xiong(吴毅雄)1, LÜ Xue-qin(吕学勤)2, JIN Xin(金 鑫)1

(1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200030, China;
2. Faculty of Electric and Automatic Engineering, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China)

Abstract：Based on the Newton-Euler method, the dynamic behaviors of the left and right driving wheels and the robot body for the
welding mobile robot were derived. In order to realize the combination control of body turning and slider adjustment, the dynamic
behaviors of sliders were also investigated. As a result, a systematic and complete dynamic model for the welding mobile robot was
constructed. In order to verify the effectiveness of the above model, a sliding mode tracking control method was proposed and
simulated, the lateral error stabilizes between −0.2 mm and +0.2 mm, and the total distance of travel for the slider is consistently
within ±2 mm. The simulation results verify the effectiveness of the established dynamic model and also show that the seam
tracking controller based on the dynamic model has excellent performance in terms of stability and robustness. Furthermore, the
model is found to be very suitable for practical applications of the welding mobile robot.

Key words: dynamic model; seam tracking; sliding mode control; welding mobile robot

practice[8]. In this study, therefore a dynamic model for

1 Introduction
Research on a welding mobile robot that is suitable
for specially non-structured working environments has
gained increasing attention. Examples of which are the
spherical tank all-position welding mobile robot based on
two linear charge coupled device(CCD) sensors[1−2], a
crawling welding machine based on structured light for a
storage tank or oil pipeline welding[3], the wheeled
welding robot for welding in the lattice region of egg
boxes inside the ship bottom[4], the intelligent welding
mobile robot for ship deck welding that has the function
of auto-searching weld line[5−6], and so on[7−9].
In real welding environments, however, due to the
external disturbance or the perturbation of structural
parameters, such as actual vehicle dynamic inertia and
the power limits of actuators and localization errors, the
method of the linear control theory based on the
kinematics model could not result in good performance[9],
especially in the aspects of the stability and robustness.
Therefore, in order to address this problem, nonlinear
controls such as sliding mode control are employed for a
welding mobile robot[10−11].
Through there are much research on tracking
control based on the dynamic model for the
nonholonomic constraints mobile robot[10−14], there have
been relatively few studies on seam tracking control in
nonholomic welding mobile robot was established
systematically and completely. In order to verify the
effectiveness of the tracking control method based on the
dynamic model, a new sliding mode seam tracking
control method was correspondingly proposed and
simulated.
2 Kinematic constraint equations 带格式的: 项目符号和编号
The developed welding mobile robot[5,15], which has
two independent driving wheels and two free casters, is a
2-DOF(degree of free) vehicle moving on a flat plane. Its
structure is shown in Fig.1. Oxy is a global coordinate
system, and Ex′y′ is a local coordinate frame attached to
the mobile robot with origin E, which is the midpoint of
the axis line of two driving wheels, where point C
denotes the center of mass for the welding mobile robot,
point T is the center position of the cross slider, point F
represents the position of the welding torch and sensor,
and r denotes the radius of the driving wheel. The
posture and velocity of point E represent the posture and
velocity of the robot, (x, y) indicates the position of the
robot guide point E, and θ is the heading angle of the
robot relative to the x axis. 2c denotes the distance
between the left and right driving wheels, a denotes the
distance between the guide point E and the center point T
of the cross slider, d represents the distance between the

Foundation item: Project(50605044) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project(2004DFA02400) supported by the Key
International Science and Technology Cooperation Program
Received date: 2007−03−10; Accepted date: 2007−04−28
Corresponding author: ZHANG Ke, PhD; Tel: +86-21-62933401; E-mail: zhangke@sjtu.edu.
680 J. Cent. South Univ. Technol. 2007, 14(5)
center of mass point C and the guide point E, and b
represents the distance between the welding torch point
F and the center point T of the cross slider.
Fig.1 Structure of developed welding mobile robot
Let v and ω denote the linear and angular velocity,
respectively, and the kinematic model of the mobile
robot body can be described by a Jacobian matrix J as
follows[16]:
⎡ x& ⎤ ⎡ cos θ 0 ⎤
⎢ y& ⎥ = Jq = ⎢ sin θ 0 ⎥ ⎡ v ⎤ (1)
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ω ⎥
&
⎣⎢θ ⎦⎥ ⎣⎢ 0 1 ⎦⎥ ⎣ ⎦
Let θ&r and θ&l denote the angular velocities of the
right and left driving wheels, respectively. From the
Eqn.(1), three constraints can be obtained as follows:
⎧ x& sin θ − y& cos θ = 0
⎪ center C. Other structural parameters are shown in Fig.1.
⎨ x& cos θ + y& sin θ + cθ& = rθ&r (2)
⎪ x& cos θ + y& sin θ − cθ& = rθ&
⎩ l
Eqn.(2) corresponds to the hypothesis of pure
rolling and non-slipping condition, and shows that the
mobile robot is a typical nonlinear dynamic system with
the above nonholonomic constraints.
3 Dynamic modeling
From Fig.1, it can be seen that the developed
welding mobile robot can be divided into three parts: the
left and right driving wheels, the vehicle frame, and the
slider adjustment device[17].
3.1 Left and right driving wheels
When in the condition of pure rolling without any
slipping, the relationship between the linear velocities vl,
vr and the angular velocities θ&l , θ&r can be described as
follows:
⎪⎧ vl = r θ&l
⎨ (3)
⎪⎩vr = r θ&r
Let Be be the effective viscous friction coefficient of
the combined motor rotor, gearbox, and wheel. The
dynamic equation of the wheel motor assembly can be
described as follows[18]:
⎧⎪ I wθ&&r + Be θ&r = τ r − r Fr y
⎨ && (4)
⎪⎩ I wθ l + Be θ&l = τ l − r Fl
where Iw is the effective moment of inertia, τ1 and τr y'
are the driving torques of the left and right motors,
respectively, Fl and Fr denote the left and right driving
forces, respectively, and θi (i =r, l) is the rotational angle
of the driving wheels.
y
3.2 Vehicle frame
The dynamic analysis of the welding mobile robot
body is shown in Fig.2. The Newton-Euler equations of O
the vehicle frame are expressed as follows: z
删除的内容:
⎧ ⎡( Fr + Fl ) − Fx′f ⎤ cosθ − ⎡ Fn − Fy′f ⎤ sin θ = mC && xC 带格式的: 项目符号和编号
⎪⎣ ⎦ ⎣ ⎦
⎪
⎨ ⎡⎣( Fr + Fl ) − Fx′f ⎤⎦ sin θ + ⎡⎣ Fn − Fy′f ⎤⎦ cos θ = mC && yC (5)
⎪ &&
(
⎪⎩ r F − Fl ) c − F n d − Fy′f e − ( Fx′fr − F x′fl )l = I Cθ
where Fn = Fnr + Fnl ，Fx ' f = Fx′fr + Fx′fl , Fy ' f = Fy′fr + Fy′fl ,
(xc, yc, θ)T denotes the posture of the center of mass with
respect to the global coordinates, mC is the vehicle frame
mass, IC is the frame inertia relative to point C, Fx'fr, Fx'fl,
Fy'fr, and Fy'fl are the reaction forces applied on the frame
by the front wheel, respectively, and Fnr and Fnl are the
forces resulting from the normal friction forces between
the ground and the wheel, respectively, 2l denotes the
distance between the left and right front wheels, and e
denotes the distance from the front wheel to the mass
带格式的: 项目符号和编号
Fig.2 Dynamic analysis of welding mobile robot body 带格式的: 项目符号和编号
Point C is not the point to be tracked in order to
obtain the dynamic description of welding torch point F.
According to the plane motion principle of a rigid body,
the geometrical relation between points C and F can be
described as follows:
 ZHANG Ke, et al: Dynamic modeling and simulation for nonholonomic welding mobile robot 681
T
⎧ xF = xC + a′ cosθ − b sin θ [τr, τl, τz, τb] , τd presents the unknown disturbance and
⎨ (6)
⎩ yF = yC + a′ sin θ + b cos θ modeling dynamics, A(q ) is the Jacobian full rank
where a ′ denotes the distance from the slider center matrix, λ denotes the vector of Lagrange multiplier
point T to the center of mass C. From Fig.1, a ′ = a − d that expresses the constraints forces in Eqn.(10),
and A( q)q& = 0 describes the nonholonomic kinematic
can be derived.
For the differentially steered wheeled welding constraints of the welding mobile robot.
mobile robot, the relation among the linear velocities vl ⎡ Iw ⎤
⎢ m1 sin(2θ ) 0 m3 0 ⎥
and vr of the driving wheels, the linear velocity v of the r
⎢ ⎥
guide point E, and the angular velocity θ& can be ⎢ Iw sin(2θ ) m2 0 m4 0 ⎥
⎢ r ⎥
described as follows: ⎢
2πI z
⎥ ,
⎢ 0 0 0 0 ⎥
M (q ) = ⎢
⎪⎧ vl = v − c θ& kz ⎥
⎨ (7) ⎢ ⎥
⎪⎩vr = v + c θ& ⎢
0 0 0 IC r +
2c 2
Iw 0 ⎥
⎥
⎢ r
⎢ ⎥
⎢ 2πI b ⎥
3.3 Cross slider 0 0 0 0 带格式的: 项目符号和编号
Let cb be the effective viscous friction coefficient of ⎣⎢ kb ⎦⎥

the combined motor and horizontal slider, and cz is that ⎡Θ1 Θ3 0 Θ5 0 ⎤

⎢Θ Θ 0 Θ6 0 ⎥⎥
of the combined motor and vertical slider. Applying ⎢ 2 4
Newton’s Second Law to the horizontal and vertical ⎢ 2πcz ⎥
sliders, the dynamic equations of the slider motor ⎢0 0 0 0 ⎥
kz
assembly can be described as follows: V (q, q&) = ⎢ ⎥,
⎢ 2Bec2 ⎥
⎢0 0 0 0 ⎥
⎪⎧ I bθ&&b + cbθ&b = τ b ⎢ r ⎥
⎨ && (8) ⎢
⎪⎩ I zθ z + czθ&z = τ z 2πcb ⎥
⎢0 0 0 0 ⎥
where θb and θz are the rotational angles of the ⎣ kb ⎦
stepping motors, respectively, Ib and Iz are the effective
moments of inertia of the horizontal slider device and ⎡ (Fx′fr + Fx′fl )r cosθ ⎤
vertical slider device, respectively, and τb and τz denote ⎢ ⎥
⎢ ( Fx′fr + Fx′fl )rsinθ ⎥
the driving torques of the horizontal and vertical slider,
respectively. F (q) = ⎢ 0 ⎥,
⎢ ⎥
Since the cross slider is driven by two stepping ⎢(Fy′fr + Fy′fl )r (a + e) − (Fnr + Fnl )r e + (Fx′fr − Fx′fl )rl ⎥
motors through guide screws, let kb and kz be the thread ⎢ ⎥
⎢⎣ (Fy′fr + Fy′fl )r − (Fnr + Fnl )r ⎥⎦
intervals of the guide screws, respectively, then the linear
velocities of the horizontal and vertical slider are ⎡cosθ cosθ 0 0⎤
b& = kb (2 πθ&b ) and z&F = k z (2π θ&z ) respectively. The ⎢ sinθ sinθ 0 0 ⎥⎥
corresponding linear accelerations are b&& = kb (2πθ&&b ) ⎢
B (q ) = ⎢ 0 0 1 0⎥ ,
and && z F = k z (2πθ&&z ) , respectively. So the equation can ⎢ ⎥
be obtained as follows: ⎢ −c c 0 0⎥
⎢⎣ 0 0 0 1 ⎥⎦
⎧ && cb & kb
⎪ b = − I b + 2πI τ b A(q) = [sinθ , − cosθ , 0, a, 1] ,
⎪ b b
⎨ (9)
⎪ && cz kz
z F = − z&F + τz λ = ⎡⎣( Fnr + Fnl )r − ( Fy′fr + Fy′fl )r ⎤⎦ .
⎪⎩ Iz 2πI z
where
Finally, according to dynamic Eqns.(4), (5), and (9),
in combination with kinematic Eqn.(1), and through 2I w 2I
m1 = mC r + cos 2θ ， m2 = mC r + w sin 2θ ,
transformation Eqns.(3), (6), and (7), the dynamic model r r
of the welding mobile robot can be described in vector 2I wb
m3 = mC r (a′ sinθ + b cosθ ) + cosθ ,
form as follows: r
2I b
⎧⎪ M (q)q&& + V (q, q& )q& + F (q) + τ d = B (q)τ − AT (q)λ m4 = −mC r (a′ cosθ − b sinθ ) + w sinθ ,
⎨ (10) r
⎪⎩ A(q)q& = 0 2 Be Iw &
Θ1 = cos θ − θ sin(2θ ) ，
2

where q denotes the posture vector for welding torch r r

point F, namely, q =[xF, yF, zF, θ, b]T, and τ denotes the Be 2I w & 2
Θ 2 = sin(2θ ) − θ sin θ ,
torque input for the four driving motor, namely, τ= r r
682 J. Cent. South Univ. Technol. 2007, 14(5)
Be 2I where c1 = 1 and c0 forms the equation c1 s + c0 = 0
Θ3 = sin(2θ ) + w θ&cos 2θ ,
r r with a negative real-part, tracking posture error
2 Be 2 Iw & e = P − Pd , the velocity error e& = P& − P&d , and the
Θ4 = sin θ + θ sin(2θ ),
r r variable structure control law is formed as follows:
s
2bBe υ = P&&d − c0e& − k (15)
Θ5 = mC r (a′ cosθ − b sinθ )θ& + cosθ , s +δ
r
2bBe where k is the time-varying control gain and k＞0. It
Θ 6 = mC r (a′ sinθ + b cosθ )θ& + sinθ ,
r can enhance the anti-interference ability, eliminate the
a′ = a − d . static error, and guarantee the existence of the sliding
mode when e&& and e& are equal to zero.
Eqn.(10) is a full dynamic model for the developed
According to the reachability of the sliding surface,
welding mobile robot, and it completely and accurately
describes the synthetic dynamic behavior involved when s T s& ≤ 0 (16)
the four control motors of the robot body and cross slider When the uncertain external disturbance factor
act on the welding torch point F. This lays the foundation ∆AA−1 sgn s ＜1, the existence condition of the sliding
for the design of a robust seam tracking controller based surface can be satisfied, and k is as follows:
on a dynamic model with uncertainties.
∆AA−1 (υˆ − H ) + ∆H + µ
k= , µ ＞0 (17)
4 Dynamic simulation 1 − ∆AA−1 sgn s 带格式的: 项目符号和编号
Supposing that all the system state parameters can
4.1 Sliding mode seam tracking control based on be measured, the sliding mode controller can be obtained 带格式的: 项目符号和编号
dynamic model as follows:
In order to verify the effectiveness of the seam
⎡ s ⎤
tracking based on dynamic modeling, a sliding mode τ = A−1 ⎢ P&&d − c0e& − k − H⎥ (18)
control method was proposed. ⎣ s +δ ⎦
According to the nonholonomic kinematic
Fig.3 shows the schematic diagram of seam tracking
constraints A( q )q& = 0 , choosing a full-rank matrix S (q ) ,
based on sliding mode control for the welding mobile
the following relation can be obtained:
robot.
A( q ) S ( q ) = 0 (11)
Considering the perturbation of the system
parameter for welding mobile robot, let ∆r, ∆m, and ∆I Sliding
Pd _
present the absolute perturbation of the radius of the mode
driving wheels r, mass m, and inertia I, respectively, then + controlle
Fig.3 Seam tracking diagram of sliding mode control based on
∆r r = φ , ∆m m = ϕ , ∆I I = γ (12) 删除的内容:
dynamic model with uncertainties
where φ , φ and γ present the relative bounded
disturbance, respectively. 4.2 Simulation and experiment 带格式的: 项目符号和编号
Substituting Eqn.(11) into Eqn.(10) and carrying out In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed
input-output decoupling, the dynamic equation of the method for a welding mobile robot, the simulation for
welding mobile robot is transformed into the following: tracking a desired circle trajectory was performed based
on Matlab software platform.
⎧q& = S (q)u The conditions simulated were as follows. The
⎨ && −1
(13)
⎩ P = υ + ∆H + ∆AA (υ − H ) desired linear velocity, angular velocity, and control
sampling period were 20 mm/s, 0.02 rad/s, and 0.2 s,
where u is a new control input, and H, A, ∆A, and ∆A
respectively. The initial posture for the mobile welding
are the parameter matrices that relate to system structure
robot was (0, 1 000, 1˚), and the structure parameters for
and dynamic performance.
the welding mobile robot were a=390 mm, b=192 mm,
Define the real welding torch posture P(xF, yF, θ) as
c=117 mm, and r=50 mm. These parameters were
output, Pd corresponds to the desired welding torch completely consistent with those of the developed mobile
posture, and then the sliding surface s is defined as welding robot[17]. Then the design parameters of the
follows: sliding surface were c1=1, c0=4, and µ=1, respectively,
s = c1e& + c0 e (14) while the disturbance was chosen to be Gaussian random
 ZHANG Ke, et al: Dynamic modeling and simulation for nonholonomic welding mobile robot
noise with mean value of 0. The variance of the
parameters’ perturbation of the radius of driving wheels r,
inertia I, and mass m was 0.5 mm, 0.3 N·m and 2 kg,
respectively. The simulation results are shown in Figs.4,
5, and 6.
Fig.4 Tracking circle based on sliding mode control on basis of
dynamic model
Fig.5 Lateral error during tracking of circle
Fig.6 Lateral slider position during tracking of circle
Fig.5 shows the lateral error that consistently
stabilizes between −0.2 and 0.2 mm. Meanwhile, Fig.6
shows that at the beginning of seam tracking, the slider
683
position shows a bigger change and then gradually goes
to steady state, but the total distance of travel for the
slider is consistently within ±2 mm. Furthermore, from
Figs.5 and 6, it can be seen that although the random
parameters perturbation is applied to the system, the
tracking error remains within the small boundary.
Overall, the simulation results for seam tracking show
that the control law based on the dynamics can obtain
good performance in terms of stability and tracking
accuracy.
5 Conclusions
1) The dynamic model for the developed welding
mobile robot is established. As a result, the foundation
for the design of a robust seam tracking controller based
on a dynamic model with uncertainties is laid.
删除的内容:
2) The dynamic model established completely and
带格式的: 项目符号和编号
accurately describes the dynamic behaviors involved
带格式的: 项目符号和编号
when the four control motors, namely, the motors for the
left and right driving wheel, and the motors for the
horizontal and vertical slider, act on the weld torching
point.
3) A sliding mode tracking control method for the
welding mobile robot is proposed. The simulation results
verify the effectiveness of the established dynamic model,
and they also show that the seam tracking controller
based on a dynamic model has excellent performance in
terms of stability and robustness. Therefore, this model is
proven to be suitable for practical applications of the
welding mobile robot.
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(Edited by CHEN Wei-ping)