A back-stepping based trajectory tracking controller for a non-chained nonholonomic spherical robot

Spherical robot has good static and dynamic stability, which provides it with strong viability in hostile environment, but the lack of effective control methods has hindered its application and development. This article deals with the dynamic trajectory tracking problem of the spherical robot BHQ-2 designed for unmanned environment exploration. The dynamic model of the spherical robot is established with a simplified Boltzmann-Hamel equation, based on which a trajectory tracking controller is designed by using the back-stepping method. The convergence of the controller is proved with the Lyapunov stability theory. Numerical simulations show that with the controller the robot can globally and asymptotically track desired trajectories, both linear and circular.