This paper presents a path following controller that is suitable for asymmetrical planar robots with significant mass and limited motor torques. the controller is resistant against environmental forces, and inaccurate estimates of robot's inertia, by estimating their effects with unscented kalman filter. the controller outputs wheel torque commands which take in account the motor torque limits and given relative priority of internal control elements. the method presented is thoroughly explained and the simulation results demonstrate the performance of the controller.

Pseudo-omnidirectional robots with individually steerable wheels ofïer a good balance between mobility, robustness and load-carrying capacity. However, accurate synchronization of the wheels' steering and rolling speeds is necessary to prevent energy-loss, mechanical stress and wheel slippage due to actuator infighting. This has proven to be a complex problem, especially when the wheels are not fixed to the robot body but are instead connected to it via actuated chains. This paper presents a mathematically simple method consisting of closed-form equations for path following and synchronizing the steering and rolling speeds of planar robots with a variable or fixed footprint, while respecting the velocity limits of each wheel's steering and rolling actuators. The presented method is thoroughly explained and simulation results are presented to show its performance.

Magnetic field fluctuations in modern buildings arise from both natural and man-made sources, such as steel and reinforced concrete structures, electric power systems, electric and electronic appliances, and industrial devices. If the anomalies of the magnetic field inside the building are nearly static and they have sufficient local variability, they provide a unique magnetic fingerprint that can be utilized in global self-localization. In this article, a Monte Carlo localization (MCL) technique based on this hypothesis is proposed. The feasibility of the technique is demonstrated by presenting a series of global localization experiments conducted in four arbitrarily selected buildings, including a hospital. The experiment setup consists of a mobile robot instrumented with a 3-axis magnetometer and a computer. In addition, successful human self-localization experiments were conducted by using a wireless wearable magnetometer. The reported experiments suggest that the ambient magnetic field may remain sufficiently stable for longer periods of time, giving support for self-localization techniques utilizing the local deviations of the field.