Power Consumption Modeling of Wheeled Mobile Robots With Multiple Driving Modes

Wheeled mobile robots (WMRs) are being used in many real-world applications. The main challenge in the deployment of WMRs is their limited battery power. In order to complete a given task autonomously, it becomes necessary to estimating a priori the total energy consumption for the task assigned to a WMR. An accurate power consumption model allows to estimate the energy consumption of a WMR. This article presents the power consumption modeling of WMRs using a power-based graphical modeling tool called bond graph. First, the dynamic bond graph model is developed for the generalized configuration of a WMR according to number and types of wheels attached in chassis. Then, the developed bond graph model is utilized for the power consumption modeling of a WMR. The proposed power consumption model includes the various driving modes of a WMR, by considering its degree of steerability. Finally, the proposed methodology is applied to a reconfigurable outdoor WMR with a degree of steerability varying from 0 to 2. The estimated power from the model is compared with the measured power from the experiments. Further, the proposed power model is used for the energy planning in a trajectory tracking task based on changing driving modes of a reconfigurable WMR.