Path-Following Control and Terramechanics Analysis for Planetary Rovers Under Wheel-to-Wheel Traction Asymmetry

Abstract

This paper proposes a control strategy for path following that is model-free and relies solely on deceleration for skid-steering planetary rovers navigating deformable loose terrain under continuously imposed traction asymmetry. While conventional controllers that are based on kinematics frequently cause slip-sinkage entrapment by accelerating the wheels during path correction, the proposed approach prevents this failure by setting an upper limit on the maximum commanded velocity. Heading correction is achieved solely through the selective deceleration of the outer wheels, which are located on the outside of the turn, driving them into a negative slip regime to act as a mechanical anchor. The system was evaluated using the four-wheel independent-drive rover EX1 under an asymmetric wheel configuration with different left and right grouser heights that induces significant deviations from the path. Experimental results demonstrate that this deceleration-only control successfully suppresses accumulated lateral drift across various velocity regimes up to 0.7 m/s without causing sinkage. Crucially, direct force measurements from onboard multi-axis sensors provide important empirical evidence of the underlying terramechanics, proving that the targeted deceleration establishes dynamic load equalization across the chassis and completely restores the native thrust capability of the opposite driving wheel.