Remote control of a mobile robot subject to a communication delay

This paper addresses the remote tracking control of a mobile robot subject to a bilateral time-delay. The delay affects the system since the controller and the robot are linked via a delay inducing communication channel, such as the Internet, and consequently, the performance and stability of the system are compromised. Based on the notion of anticipating synchronization, a state estimator which stabilizes the system when it is affected by a bilateral time-delay is proposed. A stability analysis including the system, tracking controller and estimator is provided, and the applicability of the proposed delay compensation strategy is demonstrated by means ofexperiments between multi-robot platforms located in Eindhoven, The Netherlands and Tokyo, Japan.