Prescribed-time Sliding Mode Control of Perturbed Wheeled Mobile Robots

In this manuscript, we develop a novel observer-based prescribed-time trajectory tracking controller applied to wheeled mobile robots (WMRs). This new approach utilizes the perturbed nonlinear WMR’s kinematic model and transforms it into two disturbed second-order systems. Then, the controller design stage splits the control input into a disturbance observer that turns disturbances into vanishing terms and a hybrid scheme that ensures prescribed-time stabilization, regardless of the system’s initial conditions. The proposed controller synthesis is provided with a formal mathematical development, along with a comprehensive explanation of the feasibility of the proposed approach. Finally, widespread numerical simulation results evidence the superior performance of the new scheme over existing controllers in undisturbed and disturbed scenarios.