Directional Control and Optimum Feedback Gain for a Small Tunnelling Robot.

This paper describes a directional control method and optimum feedback gains for directional correction of a small diameter tunnelling robot which constructs conduits for telecomunication cables. The directional control of a tunnelling robot conventionally depends on both the experience and intuition of the operator, and there have been no studies with regard to its automation. There-fore, in order to establish automatic control technology for a small-diameter tunnelling robot, we proposed the feedback directional control method and evaluated the control laws by a dynamic simulator. Results clarify that both a directional error feedback loop and a position error feedback loop are necessary for stable control. Moreover, we obtained optimum feedback gains to minimize position error by using a dynamic simulator. Simulation results clarified the validity of the proposed directional control method.