A Control Method of an Automatic Guided Vehicle by Estimating the Steering Angle Using Kalman Filter

Abstract

This paper describes the principle and design to control an automatic guided vehicle without a servomechanism for steering. In the present method, the position, orientation and steering angle of the vehicle are fed back into the voltage applied to the steering motor, so that the vehicle can follow straight paths and circular paths. The vehicle does not need to measure the steering angle because it can be estimated by the Kalman filter. An experimental vehicle which measures its own position and orientation making use of fluorescent lamps on the ceiling is designed. Experimental results of the vehicle navigation on the straight paths and circular paths show the validity of the present method.