Wheel Slip Avoidance through a Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for Object Pushing with a Mobile Robot

Wheel slip may cause a significative worsening of control performance during the movement of a mobile robot. A method to avoid wheel slip is proposed in this paper through a nonlinear model predictive control. The constraints included within the optimization problem limit the force exchanged between each wheel and the ground. The approach is validated in a dynamic simulation environment through a Pioneer 3-DX wheeled mobile robot performing a pushing manipulation of a box