Path Following Control of a Tendon-Actuated Snake Robot with Rolling Joints

This paper presents a novel application of Path Following and Nonlinear Model Predictive Control techniques to a tendon-actuated snake robot with rolling joints. The study investigates the efficacy of NMPC in guiding the robot’s end-effector along predefined trajectories in the robot output space, emphasizing its relevance for inspection and maintenance tasks in cluttered environments where traditional manipulators may be impractical or ineffective. The particular mechanical design of the snake robot presents unique challenges, necessitating nonlinear control strategies that take into account constraints in both state and input spaces. The simulation results will demonstrate the effectiveness of NMPC in achieving an accurate convergence to the reference path, and will evaluate its potential, in terms of computational burden, for future development into real-world scenarios.