{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/78053"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/78053","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Nonholonomic Control Utilizing Kinematic Constraints of Differential and Ackermann Steering Based Platforms","abstract":"A nonholonomic tracking controller is designed and adapted to work with both differential steering and Ackermann steering based platforms whose dynamics are represented using a unicycle model. The goal of this work is to find a relatively simple approach that offers a practical alternative to bulky and expensive algorithms, but still bolsters applicability where many other lightweight algorithms are too lax. The hope is that this alternative will offer a straightforward approach for groups interested in autonomous vehicle research but who do not have the resources or personnel to implement more complex solutions. In the first phase of this work, saturation constraints based on differential drive kinematics are added to ensure that the vehicle behaves intuitively and does not exceed user defined limitations. A new strategy for mapping commands back into a viable envelope is introduced, and the restrictions are accounted for using Lyapunov stability criteria. This stage of work is validated through simulation and experimentation. Following the development of differential drive methods, similar techniques are applied to Ackermann steering kinematic constraints. An additional saturation algorithm is presented, which likewise is accounted for using Lyapunov stability criteria. As with the differential case, the Ackermann design is validated through simulation and experimentation. Overall, the results presented in this work demonstrate that the developed algorithms show significant promise and offer a lightweight, practical solution to the problem of vehicle tracking control.","abstract_html":"A nonholonomic tracking controller is designed and adapted to work with both differential steering and Ackermann steering based platforms whose dynamics are represented using a unicycle model. The goal of this work is to find a relatively simple approach that offers a practical alternative to bulky and expensive algorithms, but still bolsters applicability where many other lightweight algorithms are too lax. The hope is that this alternative will offer a straightforward approach for groups interested in autonomous vehicle research but who do not have the resources or personnel to implement more complex solutions. In the first phase of this work, saturation constraints based on differential drive kinematics are added to ensure that the vehicle behaves intuitively and does not exceed user defined limitations. A new strategy for mapping commands back into a viable envelope is introduced, and the restrictions are accounted for using Lyapunov stability criteria. This stage of work is validated through simulation and experimentation. Following the development of differential drive methods, similar techniques are applied to Ackermann steering kinematic constraints. An additional saturation algorithm is presented, which likewise is accounted for using Lyapunov stability criteria. As with the differential case, the Ackermann design is validated through simulation and experimentation. Overall, the results presented in this work demonstrate that the developed algorithms show significant promise and offer a lightweight, practical solution to the problem of vehicle tracking control.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Shoemaker, Adam"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Mechanical Engineering","degree_department":"Mechanical Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Leonessa, Alexander","Kurdila, Andrew J."],"committee_members":["Southward, Steve C."],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-11-30","date_published":"2016-11-30","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:06Z","subjects":["Saturation Constraints","Ackermann Control","Differential Steering Control","Mobile Robots","Nonholonomic Systems"],"languages":["en_US"],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-12082016-191505"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-12082016-191505","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78053","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Leonessa, Alexander","Kurdila, Andrew J."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Southward, Steve C."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Shoemaker, Adam"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2017-06-13T19:43:37Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-06-13T19:43:37Z","2016-12-19"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2016-11-30"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.dcmitype","label":"Dc Type Dcmitype","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Saturation Constraints","Ackermann Control","Differential Steering Control","Mobile Robots","Nonholonomic Systems"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_US"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-12082016-191505"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78053"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["A nonholonomic tracking controller is designed and adapted to work with both differential steering and Ackermann steering based platforms whose dynamics are represented using a unicycle model. The goal of this work is to find a relatively simple approach that offers a practical alternative to bulky and expensive algorithms, but still bolsters applicability where many other lightweight algorithms are too lax. The hope is that this alternative will offer a straightforward approach for groups interested in autonomous vehicle research but who do not have the resources or personnel to implement more complex solutions. In the first phase of this work, saturation constraints based on differential drive kinematics are added to ensure that the vehicle behaves intuitively and does not exceed user defined limitations. A new strategy for mapping commands back into a viable envelope is introduced, and the restrictions are accounted for using Lyapunov stability criteria. This stage of work is validated through simulation and experimentation. Following the development of differential drive methods, similar techniques are applied to Ackermann steering kinematic constraints. An additional saturation algorithm is presented, which likewise is accounted for using Lyapunov stability criteria. As with the differential case, the Ackermann design is validated through simulation and experimentation. Overall, the results presented in this work demonstrate that the developed algorithms show significant promise and offer a lightweight, practical solution to the problem of vehicle tracking control."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["In this work, a position controller for ground vehicles is developed. The algorithm takes into account the constraints of both Ackermann and differential drive platforms. A simplistic model is used for the initial development of this control algorithm, and more rigid constraints are added based on the intended platform. The goal of this work is to find a relatively simple approach that offers a practical alternative to bulky and expensive algorithms, but still bolsters applicability where many other lightweight algorithms are too lax. The hope is that this alternative will offer a straightforward approach for groups interested in autonomous vehicle research, but who do not have the resources or personnel to implement more complex solutions. Throughout this work, we present the theoretical development as well as simulation and experiments to verify the efficacy of our approach. Overall, the results presented in this work demonstrate that the developed algorithms show significant promise and offer a lightweight, practical solution to the problem of vehicle tracking control."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Nonholonomic Control Utilizing Kinematic Constraints of Differential and Ackermann Steering Based Platforms"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Leonessa, Alexander","Kurdila, Andrew J."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Southward, Steve C."],"dc:contributor.department":["Mechanical Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Shoemaker, Adam"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2017-06-13T19:43:37Z"],"dc:date.available":["2017-06-13T19:43:37Z","2016-12-19"],"dc:date.issued":["2016-11-30"],"dc:description.abstract":["A nonholonomic tracking controller is designed and adapted to work with both differential steering and Ackermann steering based platforms whose dynamics are represented using a unicycle model. The goal of this work is to find a relatively simple approach that offers a practical alternative to bulky and expensive algorithms, but still bolsters applicability where many other lightweight algorithms are too lax. The hope is that this alternative will offer a straightforward approach for groups interested in autonomous vehicle research but who do not have the resources or personnel to implement more complex solutions. In the first phase of this work, saturation constraints based on differential drive kinematics are added to ensure that the vehicle behaves intuitively and does not exceed user defined limitations. A new strategy for mapping commands back into a viable envelope is introduced, and the restrictions are accounted for using Lyapunov stability criteria. This stage of work is validated through simulation and experimentation. Following the development of differential drive methods, similar techniques are applied to Ackermann steering kinematic constraints. An additional saturation algorithm is presented, which likewise is accounted for using Lyapunov stability criteria. As with the differential case, the Ackermann design is validated through simulation and experimentation. Overall, the results presented in this work demonstrate that the developed algorithms show significant promise and offer a lightweight, practical solution to the problem of vehicle tracking control."],"dc:description.abstractgeneral":["In this work, a position controller for ground vehicles is developed. The algorithm takes into account the constraints of both Ackermann and differential drive platforms. A simplistic model is used for the initial development of this control algorithm, and more rigid constraints are added based on the intended platform. The goal of this work is to find a relatively simple approach that offers a practical alternative to bulky and expensive algorithms, but still bolsters applicability where many other lightweight algorithms are too lax. The hope is that this alternative will offer a straightforward approach for groups interested in autonomous vehicle research, but who do not have the resources or personnel to implement more complex solutions. Throughout this work, we present the theoretical development as well as simulation and experiments to verify the efficacy of our approach. Overall, the results presented in this work demonstrate that the developed algorithms show significant promise and offer a lightweight, practical solution to the problem of vehicle tracking control."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-12082016-191505"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78053"],"dc:language.iso":["en_US"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Saturation Constraints","Ackermann Control","Differential Steering Control","Mobile Robots","Nonholonomic Systems"],"dc:title":["Nonholonomic Control Utilizing Kinematic Constraints of Differential and Ackermann Steering Based Platforms"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.dcmitype":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Mechanical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:06Z"}