Simulation and Experimental Study of the Direction Control Based on the Torque Compensation of a Snake Robot

Because the direction goals of the snake robot are different in applications, e.g. the target point and target path, the direction control of a snake robot is a challenging problem. We have proposed a control method, which is called passive creeping based on the energy balance. In this paper, the direction of the snake robot which is controlled by the passive creeping control method is discussed. A new direction control method which is based on the torque compensation is proposed. The direction control method set a universal direction goal for all the applications. The torque of the head joint which leads the locomotion direction is adjusted by the torque compensation. The compensated torque decreases the angle between the direction of the body axis and the expected direction by the exponential decay function. In simulation, the trajectory and the angle express the process of direction adjustment. The error analysis proves the validity and adaptability of the proposed direction control. Also the validity of the proposed method is proved by the experiment which is based on the virtual/physical mixed experimental system