A hybrid-control approach to the parking problem of a wheeled vehicle using limited view-angle visual feedback

In this paper we consider the mobile robot parking problem, i.e., the stabilization of a wheeled vehicle to a given position and orientation, using only visual feedback from low-cost cameras. We take into account the practically most relevant problem of keeping the tracked features in sight of the camera while maneuvering to park the vehicle. This constraint, often neglected in the literature, combines with the non-holonomic nature of the vehicle kinematics in a challenging controller design problem. We provide an effective solution to such a problem by using a combination of previous results on non-smooth control synthesis and recently developed hybrid control techniques. Simulations and experimental results on a laboratory vehicle are reported, showing the practicality of the proposed approach.