A recurrent neural network applied to optimal motion control of mobile robots with physical constraints

Abstract Conventional solutions, such as the conventional recurrent neural network (CRNN) and gradient recurrent neural network (GRNN), for the motion control of mobile robots in the unified framework of recurrent neural network (RNN) are difficult to simultaneously consider both criteria optimization and physical constraints. The limitation of the RNN solution may lead to the damage of mobile robots for exceeding physical constraints during the task execution. To overcome this limitation, this paper proposes a novel inequality and equality constrained optimization RNN (IECORNN) to handle the motion control of mobile robots. Firstly, the real-time motion control problem with both criteria optimization and physical constraints is skillfully converted to a real-time equality system by leveraging the Lagrange multiplier rule. Then, the detailed design process for the proposed IECORNN is presented together with the neural network architecture developed. Afterward, theoretical analyses on the motion control problem conversion equivalence, global stability, and exponential convergence property are rigorously provided. Finally, two numerical simulation verifications and extensive comparisons with other existing RNNs, e.g., the CRNN and the GRNN, based on the mobile robot for two different path-tracking applications sufficiently demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed IECORNN for the real-time motion control of mobile robots with both criteria optimization and physical constraints. This work makes progresses in both theory as well as practice, and fills the vacancy in the unified framework of RNN in motion control of mobile robots.