Cascade Fractional-Order Finite-Time Synergetic Controller for Mobile Robots

This paper proposes an enhanced cascade control approach for trajectory tracking of nonholonomic mobile robots. The proposed method integrates a classical kinematic controller with a novel Fractional-Order Finite-Time Synergetic Controller (FOFTSC). Unlike classical synergetic controllers that ofer asymptotic convergence, the proposed FOFTSC achieves finite-time error convergence and exhibits superior transient performance and robustness against external disturbances. A comparative study with a conventional cascade control strategy, that combines a Lyapunov-based kinematic controller and a classical synergetic dynamic controller, shows the performance superiority of the proposed FOFTSC. Simulation results across multiple trajectory scenarios demonstrate that our method, which features a fractional-order finite-time synergetic controller, achieves significantly faster convergence and enhanced tracking accuracy, particularly in the presence of dynamic disturbances.