Sensor-less detection of wheel alignment error for a wheeled mobile robot using the disturbance observer

Abstract

Estimating the wheel camber error is a challenging task without attaching an additional sensors or mechanisms on the Electrical vehicles. Almost all the electrical automobiles are using several combinations of sensors to detect the camber errors, toe in/out errors and other wheel conditions measurements. This paper introduces a simple method to identify the camber and toe in/out error using disturbance observer(DOB) without using any additional sensors or mechanisms. Proposed concept is practically demonstrated by using a differential drive mobile robot. The Wheeled mobile robot (WMR) is commanded to run on a predefined path and torque profile is observed to identify whether wheels of the vehicles are misaligned.