This monograph is framed within the context of off-road mobile robotics. In particular, it discusses issues related to modelling, localization, and motion control of tracked mobile robots working in planar slippery conditions. Tracked locomotion constitutes a well-known solution for mobile platforms operating over diverse challenging terrains, for that reason, tracked robotics constitutes an important research field with many applications (e.g. agriculture, mining, search and rescue operations, military activities). The specific topics of this monograph are: historical perspective of tracked vehicles and tracked robots; trajectory-tracking model taking into account slip effect; visual-odometry-based localization strategies; and advanced slip-compensation motion controllers ensuring efficient real-time execution. Physical experiments with a real tracked robot are presented showing the better performance of the suggested novel approaches to known techniques.  Keywords: longitudinal slip, visual odometry, slip-compensation control, robust predictive control, trajectory tracking.  Related subjects: Robotics – Mechanical Engineering – Mechanics – Computer Science – Artificial Intelligence - Applications  

Automatic Control with Interactive Tools is a textbook for undergraduate study of automatic control. Providing a clear course structure, and covering concepts taught in engineering degrees, this book is an ideal companion to those studying or teaching automatic control. The authors have used this text successfully to teach their students. By providing unique interactive tools, which have been designed to illustrate the most important automatic control concepts, Automatic Control with Interactive Tools helps students overcome the potential barriers presented by the significant mathematical content of automatic control courses. Even when they have previously had only the benefit of an introductory control course, the software tools presented will help readers to get to grips with the use of such techniques as differential equations, linear algebra, and differential geometry. This textbook covers the breadth of automatic control topics, including time responses of dynamic systems, the Nyquist criterion and PID control. It switches smoothly between analytical and practical approaches. Automatic Control with Interactive Tools offers a clear introduction to automatic control, ideal for undergraduate students, instructors and anyone wishing to familiarize themselves with the fundamentals of the subject