Design and Experimental Validation of an Effective Controller for Autonomous Differential Wheeled Robots

This research focuses on the control of differential wheeled robots and aims to develop a new, practical controller inspired by the well-known PID controller. The primary challenge with traditional PID controllers lies in the difficulty of accurately optimizing the three key parameters (coefficients of Proportional, Integral and Derivative) through experimental trial and error. While numerical simulations offer solutions for parameter optimization, real-world factors such as friction losses, inconsistent current and voltage supply to the DC motors, and wheel slippage often prevent these optimized parameters from achieving the same effectiveness in physical systems. This study proposes a novel controller designed to address these challenges, simplifying the parameter tuning process to a single, easily adjustable variable. The new controller, while inspired by the PID approach, offers an effective alternative, overcoming the limitations posed by real-world conditions. It was implemented and tested on a differential wheeled robot specifically designed for this research. Experimental testing across various tasks demonstrated that the new controller provides stable and reliable control, making it a valuable alternative to traditional PID-based approaches.