Abstract
A tool for path following for a mobile manipulator is herein presented. The control algorithm is obtained by projecting a local frame associated with the robot onto the desired path, thus obtaining a non-orthogonal moving frame. The Serret–Frenet frame moving along the curve is considered as a reference. A curve resulting from the control points of a B-spline in 2D or 3D is investigated as the desired path. It is used to show how the geometric continuity of the path has an impact on the performance of the robot in terms of undesired force spikes. This can be understood by looking at the curvature and, in 3D, at the torsion of the path. These unwanted effects vanish and better performance is achieved thanks to the change of the B-spline order. The theoretical results are confirmed by the simulation study for a mobile manipulator consisting of a non-holonomic wheeled base coupled with a holonomic robotic arm with three degrees of freedom (rotational and prismatic). © 2024 by the authors.