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The aim is to design and develop a universal WMR to implement different kinematic models and test various control strategies. A detailed study of kinematics of WMRs is done. The objective is to develop an appropriate kinematic model of a mobile robot and test various time varying feedback control algorithms on this model to control its motion from a given starting position to a desired goal position. Various control strategies are reviewed and compared for trajectory tracking and posture stabilization problems in an environment free of obstacles. The strategies are simulated in MATLAB using ode23 solver. An appropriate mathematical model for a car-type mobile robot is derived to determine the relationship between the actual patterns of motion followed by the wheels of the vehicle.
Control software is developed for interfacing with the driving hardware. The control software includes the implementation of the various algorithms pertaining to the kinematic model and strategies, software for stepper motor control and certain plotting functions for displaying the status of the mobile robot.
A control circuit is made using stepper motor driver IC ULN2003, which translates the output signals generated by the control software to stepper motors driving signals. The control signals are transferred from the control software in the computer to the hardware through the parallel port. From the comparison of the obtained test results, a guideline is provided for WMR end-users. 
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