{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T02:32:17Z","timestamp":1760236337073,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637107200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Marie Curie Initial Training Network","award":["264336"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["264336"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper presents a nonlinear, universal, path-following controller for Wheeled Mobile Robots (WMRs). This approach, unlike previous algorithms, solves the path-following problem for all common categories of holonomic and nonholonomic WMRs, such as omnidirectional, unicycle, car-like, and all steerable wheels. This generality is the consequence of a two-stage solution that tackles separately the platform path-following and wheels\u2019 kinematic constraints. In the first stage, for a mobile platform divested of the wheels\u2019 constraints, we develop a general paradigm of a path-following controller that plans asymptotic paths from the WMR to the desired path and, accordingly, we derive a realization of the presented paradigm. The second stage accounts for the kinematic constraints imposed by the wheels. In this stage, we demonstrate that the designed controller simplifies the otherwise impenetrable wheels\u2019 kinematic and nonholonomic constraints into explicit proportional functions between the velocity of the platform and that of the wheels. This result enables us to derive a closed-form trajectory generation scheme for the asymptotic path that constantly keeps the wheels\u2019 steering and driving velocities within their corresponding, pre-specified bounds. Extensive experimental results on several types of WMRs, along with simulation results for the other types, are provided to demonstrate the performance and the efficacy of the method.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s21227642","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T09:16:11Z","timestamp":1637140571000},"page":"7642","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Universal Path-Following of Wheeled Mobile Robots: A Closed-Form Bounded Velocity Solution"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Reza","family":"Oftadeh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6043-4236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Reza","family":"Ghabcheloo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Automation Technology and Mechanical Engineering, Tampere University, 33720 Tampere, Finland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jouni","family":"Mattila","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Automation Technology and Mechanical Engineering, Tampere University, 33720 Tampere, Finland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Morin, P., and Samson, C. 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