The paper proposes a systematic, data-driven method for kinematics modeling of high mobility wheeled rovers traversing uneven terrain. The method is based on the propagation of position and orientation velocities starting from the rover reference frame and going through various joints and linkages to the wheels. Equations of the motion are set up in a compact form, which only require the D-H parameters of the rover joints and links. To illustrate the proposed kinematics modeling, the method is applied to a rover similar to the NASA's Sample Return Rover.

This paper describes a general approach to kinematics modeling of all-terrain rovers traversing uneven terrain. The model is derived for full six degree of freedom motion including rotations in pitch, roll, and yaw as well as translation in x, y, and z. Differential kinematics is derived for individual wheel motions in contact with the terrain and then combined to form the composite equation for rover motion. Three useful types of kinematics (i.e., navigation, actuation and slip) are identified, and the equations and application of each are discussed. For illustration, the method is specialized to Rocky 7, a highly articulated prototype Mars rover. Simulation results are described for Rocky 7 traversing bumpy terrain.

This paper describes a general approach to the kinematics modeling and analyses of articulated rovers traversing uneven terrain. The model is derived for full 6DOF (6-degree-of-freedom) motion, enabling movements in the x,y, and z directions, as well as pitch, roll, and yaw rotations. Differential kinematics is derived for the individual wheel motions in contact with the terrain. The resulting equations of the individual wheel motions are then combined to form the composite equation for the rover motion. Three types of kinematics, i.e., navigation, actuation, and slip kinematics are identified, and the equations and application of each are discussed. The derivations are specialized to Rocky 7, a highly articulated prototype Mars rover, to illustrate the developed methods. Simulation results are provided for the motion of the Rocky 7 over several terrains, and various motion profiles are provided to explain the behavior of the rover.

The paper describes a method for kinematic modeling of the Rocky 7 Mars rover. The model is derived for full six degree of freedom motions enabling movements in x,y,z directions, as well as pitch, roll and yaw rotations. Forward kinematic equations are derived using wheel Jacobian matrices. The individual matrices are then combined to form the composite equation for the rover. This equation is solved to obtain the rover position and heading in terms of measured wheel velocities and certain rocker joint angles. The inverse kinematics is derived relating the individual wheel velocities and steering angles to the desired forward velocity and turning rate of the rover. Due to the special kinematic configuration of Rocky 7, a geometric approach is developed to determine the steering angles.

In Su and Leung (1993), a sliding mode control method is proposed for joint trajectory tracking of robot manipulators. The method is based on the decomposition of the manipulator dynamics into the product of a constant parameter vector and a regressor matrix, originally developed by Slotine and Li (1988). This note shows that the method proposed by Su and Leung does not offer any advantage over the method of Slotine and Li.>