Kinematics of automatic guided vehicles with an inclined steering column and an offset distance: criterion for existence of inverse kinematic solution

Abstract

Abstract This article presents the kinematic model of an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) with an inclined steering column and an offset distance. The vehicle configuration considered here employs the front wheel as the driving and steering wheel. From the kinematic model, a criterion is derived to test the existence of inverse kinematic solution. The criterion is a function of the geometric parameters of the AGV and the steering angle of the wheel. From the criterion defined, conditions for the existence of inverse kinematic solution for steering column configurations with and without inclination and offset distance are obtained. The criterion also presents the range of steering angles for which the inverse kinematic solution exists. The criterion signifies the presence of a unique solution for the motion parameters of the wheel, i.e., the wheel speed, steering angle, and steering rate for desired values of the motion parameters of the AGV, i.e., the linear and angular velocities of the AGV. This information is needed for the guidance control of AGVs based upon a kinematic control scheme (dead‐reckoning control) without using the absolute position referencing system to follow a predefined path at prescribed linear and angular velocities. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.