{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,5]],"date-time":"2026-09-05T03:23:00Z","timestamp":1788578580718,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768262400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"R&D&I project","award":["PID2023-150967OB-I00605"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PID2023-150967OB-I00605"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Accurate trajectory tracking remains a central challenge in differential-drive mobile robots (DDMRs), particularly when operating under real-world conditions. Model Predictive Control (MPC) provides a powerful framework for this task, but its performance degrades when the robot deviates significantly from the nominal path. To address this limitation, robust recovery mechanisms are required to ensure stable and precise tracking. This work presents an experimental validation of an MPC controller applied to a four-wheel DDMR, whose odometry is corrected by a SLAM algorithm running in ROS 2. The MPC is formulated as a quadratic program with state and input constraints on linear (v) and angular (\u03c9) velocities, using a prediction horizon of Np=15 future states, adjusted to the computational resources of the onboard computer. A novel dynamic look-ahead re-entry strategy is proposed, which activates when the robot exits a predefined lateral error band (\u03b4=0.05 m) and interpolates a smooth reconnection trajectory based on a forward look-ahead point, ensuring gradual convergence and avoiding abrupt re-entry actions. Accuracy was evaluated through lateral and heading errors measured via geometric projection onto the nominal path, ensuring fair comparison. From these errors, RMSE, MAE, P95, and in-band percentage were computed as quantitative metrics. The framework was tested on real hardware at 50 Hz through 5 nominal experiments and 3 perturbed experiments. Perturbations consisted of externally imposed velocity commands at specific points along the path, while configuration parameters were systematically varied across trials, including the weight R, smoothing distance Lsmooth, and activation of the re-entry strategy. In nominal conditions, the best configuration (ID 2) achieved a lateral RMSE of 0.05 m, a heading RMSE of 0.06 rad, and maintained 68.8% of the trajectory within the validation band. Under perturbations, the proposed strategy substantially improved robustness. For instance, in experiment ID 6 the robot sustained a lateral RMSE of 0.12 m and preserved 51.4% in-band, outperforming MPC without re-entry, which suffered from larger deviations and slower recoveries. The results confirm that integrating MPC with the proposed re-entry strategy enhances both accuracy and robustness in DDMR trajectory tracking. By combining predictive control with a spatially grounded recovery mechanism, the approach ensures consistent performance in challenging scenarios, underscoring its relevance for reliable mobile robot navigation in uncertain environments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s26020520","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T11:42:58Z","timestamp":1768304578000},"page":"520","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Robust Model Predictive Control with a Dynamic Look-Ahead Re-Entry Strategy for Trajectory Tracking of Differential-Drive Robots"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1244-291X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Diego","family":"Guffanti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n en Mecatr\u00f3nica y Sistemas Interactivos\u2014MIST, Universidad Indoam\u00e9rica, Av. Machala y Sabanilla, Quito 170103, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2764-1524","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mois\u00e9s Filiberto","family":"Mora Murillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Mec\u00e1nica y Ciencias Exactas, Instituto Superior Universitario Jap\u00f3n, Santo Domingo 230102, Ecuador"},{"name":"Carrera de Electricidad, Instituto Superior Tecnol\u00f3gico Tsa\u2019chila, Santo Domingo 230109, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6273-4075","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Santiago","family":"Bustamante Sanchez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carrera de Tecnolog\u00eda Superior en Mec\u00e1nica Industrial, Instituto Superior Tecnol\u00f3gico Tsa\u2019chila, Santo Domingo 230109, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9331-6105","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Javier","family":"Oswaldo Obreg\u00f3n Guti\u00e9rrez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carrera de Electr\u00f3nica, Instituto Superior Tecnol\u00f3gico Tsa\u2019chila, Santo Domingo 230109, Ecuador"},{"name":"Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manab\u00ed sede Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo 230108, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-1060-4746","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco Alejandro","family":"Hinojosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Carrera de Tecnolog\u00eda Superior en Mec\u00e1nica Industrial, Instituto Superior Tecnol\u00f3gico Tsa\u2019chila, Santo Domingo 230109, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9873-232X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alberto","family":"Brunete","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Automation and Robotics (CAR UPM-CSIC), Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Madrid, 28012 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9997-0266","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel","family":"Hernando","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Automation and Robotics (CAR UPM-CSIC), Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Madrid, 28012 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2056-640X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"David","family":"\u00c1lvarez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Automation and Robotics (CAR UPM-CSIC), Universidad Polit\u00e9cnica de Madrid, 28012 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Xu, C., Zhou, X., Chen, R., Li, B., He, W., Li, Y., and Ye, F. 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