Stabilization of a Nonholonomic Car Model with Off-Hooked Trailers

Abstract

We consider a kinematic model of a controlled car with two trailers by assuming that each trailer is attached at some distance from the preceding axle ("off-hooked trailers"). For this model, we derive the transformation towards privileged coordinates and present the corresponding nilpotent quasihomogeneous approximate system. The components of this nilpotent approximation are written explicitly in terms of mechanical parameters of the original system. The constructed system does not satisfy the Brockett necessary stabilizability condition, and the design of time-varying feedback controllers with oscillating components is proposed. It is proved that these controllers ensure the exponential convergence of solutions to the trivial equilibrium, and simulation results are presented to illustrate the behavior of the closed-loop system.