Differential flatness ADRC for high-speed steering of tracked tank systems

doi:10.23919/JSEE.2025.000116

Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics ›› 2025, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (6): 1665-1678.doi: 10.23919/JSEE.2025.000116

• CONTROL THEORY AND APPLICATION • Previous Articles

Differential flatness ADRC for high-speed steering of tracked tank systems

Yuanqing XIA¹(), Zhongqi SUN¹^,*(), Li DAI¹(), Yufeng ZHAN¹(), Dihua ZHAI¹(), Wenjun ZHAO¹(), Fan PU²()

¹ School of Automation, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
² National Key Laboratory of Airspace Technology, Beijing 100085, China

Received:2024-07-08 Online:2025-12-18 Published:2026-01-07
Contact: Zhongqi SUN E-mail:xia_yuanqing@bit.edu.cn;zhongqisun@bit.edu.cn;li.dai@bit.edu.cn;yu-feng.zhan@bit.edu.cn;zhaidih@bit.edu.cn;18829898128@163.com;pufanv23@gmail.com
About author:
XIA Yuanqing was born in 1976. He received his Ph.D. degree in control theory and control engineering from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, China, in 2001. From January 2002 to November 2003, he was a postdoctoral research associate with the Institute of Systems Science, Academy of Mathematics and System Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. From November 2003 to February 2004, he was with the National University of Singapore as a research fellow, where he worked on variable structure control. From February 2004 to February 2006, he was with the University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd, U.K., as a research fellow. From February 2007 to June 2008, he was a guest professor with Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria. Since 2004, he has been with the Department of Automatic Control, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, first as an associate professor, then, since 2008, as a professor. In October 2023, he was also hired as the president of Zhongyuan University of Technology. Currently, he is both a professor at Beijing Institute of Technology and the president of Zhongyuan University of Technology. His research interests are cloud control systems, networked control systems, robust control and signal processing, active disturbance rejection control, unmanned system control, and flight control. E-mail: xia_yuanqing@bit.edu.cn

SUN Zhongqi was born in 1986. He received his B.E. degree in computer and automation in 2010 from Hebei Polytechnic University, Hebei, China, and Ph.D. degree in control science and engineering in 2018 from Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China. From September 2018 to August 2019, he was a postdoctoral fellow with the Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, Netherlands. He is currently an associate professor in the School of Automation, Beijing Institute of Technology. His research interests include unmanned systems, model predictive control, and reinforcement learning. E-mail: zhongqisun@bit.edu.cn

DAI Li was born in 1988. She received her B.S. degree in information and computing science in 2010 and Ph.D. degree in control science and engineering in 2016, both from Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China. Now she is an associate professor in the School of Automation, Beijing Institute of Technology. Her research interests include model predictive control, distributed control, data-driven control, stochastic systems, and networked control systems. E-mail: li.dai@bit.edu.cn

ZHAN Yufeng was born in 1989. He received his Ph.D. degree from Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), Beijing, China, in 2018. He is currently an associate professor in the School of Automation with BIT. Prior to join BIT, he was a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Computing with Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests include cloud/edge computing, machine learning systems, and control engineering. E-mail: yu-feng.zhan@bit.edu.cn

ZHAI Dihua was born in 1988. He received his B.E. degree in automation from Anhui University, Hefei, China, in 2010, M.E. degree in control science and engineering from the University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, in 2013, and Dr.Eng. degree in control science and engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China, in 2017. Since 2017, he has been with the School of Automation, Beijing Institute of Technology, where he is currently an associate professor. His research interests include intelligent robot, networked robots, computer vision in robotics, artificial intelligence in medicine, switched control, and optimal control. E-mail: zhaidih@bit.edu.cn

ZHAO Wenjun was born in 1996. She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Beijing Institute of Technology in 2019 and 2022 respectively. Her research interest is flight control. E-mail: 18829898128@163.com

PU Fan was born in 1991. She received her B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in automation from Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China. She is working on air traffic management research at the National Key Laboratory of Airspace Technology. Her research interest focuses on adaptive disturbance rejection control. E-mail: pufanv23@gmail.com
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62422305;62373049).

Abstract

Abstract:

This paper proposes a differential-fatness-based active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) for high-speed steering control of tracked tank systems. Firstly, a high-speed steering model is established by considering the lateral component of the centrifugal force acting on the tank on the basis of modeling and analyzing the dynamic model of the low-speed steering system. Secondly, we propose a differential-flatness ADRC approach by converting the under-actuated system to a fully driven flat one. Moreover, we prove the differential flatness of the steering system, which facilitates a two-channel ADRC development. Finally, we show that both the states of the flat system and the original under-actuated system can track the reference trajectory. On the external interference condition, the system is observed to re-track the target signal within 2 s.

Key words: tracked tank, steering system, differential flatness, active disturbance rejection control (ADRC)

Yuanqing XIA, Zhongqi SUN, Li DAI, Yufeng ZHAN, Dihua ZHAI, Wenjun ZHAO, Fan PU. Differential flatness ADRC for high-speed steering of tracked tank systems[J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2025, 36(6): 1665-1678.

Figures/Tables 19

Fig 1

Fig 2

Fig 3

Fig 4

Fig 5

Fig 6

Fig 7

Fig 8

Fig 9

Fig 10

Fig 11

Fig 12

Fig 13

Fig 14

Fig 15

Fig 16

Fig 17

Fig 18

Fig 19

References 30

1	YAN Q D, ZHANG L D, ZHAO Y Q. Tank structure and design. Beijing: Beijing University of Technology Press, 2007. (in Chinese)
2	YANG L K, XU J G Analysis on the development of active protection system for tanks and armored vehicles. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2021, 1855 (1): 012034.
3	WONG J Y. Theory of ground vehicles. 4th ed. New Jersey: Wiley, 2008.
4	ZHANG Y, QIU M H, LIU X X, et al Research on characteristics of tracked vehicle steering on slope. Mathematical Problems in Engineering, 2021, 2021 (1): 3592902.
5	CHENG J W, GAO L H, WANG H Y, et al Steering analysis of tracked vehicles. Journal of Military Engineering, 2007, 28 (9): 1110- 1115.
6	LIU K, AYERS P, HOWARD H, et al Multi-pass rutting study for turning wheeled and tracked vehicles. Transactions of the ASABE, 2011, 54 (1): 5- 12.
7	HUANG H, LI Z, WANG Z D A power coupling system for electric tracked vehicles during high-speed steering with optimization-based torque distribution control. Energie, 2018, 11 (6): 1538.
8	ALHIMDANI F F Steering analysis of articulated tracked vehicles. Journal of Terramechanics, 1982, 19 (3): 195- 209.
9	BEKKER M G. Theory of land locomotion. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1956.
10	KOZŁOWSKI K, PAZDERSKI D Modeling and control of a 4-wheel skid-steering mobile robot. International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, 2004, 14 (4): 477- 496.
11	WANG H Y, CHEN B, RUI Q, et al Steering analysis of tracked vehicle under concentrated load. Acta Armamentarii, 2006, 37 (12): 2196- 2204.
12	GALVAGNO E, RONDINELLI E, VELARDOCCHIA M Electro-mechanical transmission modelling for series-hybrid tracked tanks. International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2012, 19 (3): 256- 280.
13	WANG H Y, LI T F, WANG T, et al Analysis and calculation of tracked vehicle steering-load based on conditions of tracks’ slip. Applied Mechanics & Materials, 2018, 378, 55- 60.
14	MAHALINGAM I, PADMANABHAN C A novel alternate multibody model for the longitudinal and ride dynamics of a tracked vehicle. Vehicle System Dynamics, 2021, 59 (3): 433- 457.
15	WANG Z X. Research on steering stability control of high-speed electromechanical compound drive tracked vehicles. Beijing: Beijing Institute of Technology, 2017. (in Chinese)
16	CUI D, WANG G Q, ZHAO H Y, et al Research on a path-tracking control system for articulated tracked vehicles. Strojniski Vestnik-Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2020, 66 (5): 311- 324.
17	LIU Z, KANG H Y Research on trajectory tracking of unmanned vehicle based on model predictive control. Journal of Physics Conference Series, 2021, 1861 (1): 012116.
18	GAI J T, HUANG S D, LIU Y, et al Adaptive sliding mode steering control of double motor coupling drive transmission for tracked vehicle. Acta Armamentarii, 2015, 36 (3): 405- 411.
19	ZHAO Z Y, LIU H O, CHEN H Y, et al Kinematics-aware model predictive control for autonomous high-speed tracked vehicles under the off-road conditions. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 2019, 123 (15): 333- 350.
20	TOTA A, VELARDOCCHIA M, ROTA E, et al. Steering behavior of an articulated amphibious all-terrain tracked vehicle. SAE Technical Paper, 2020. DOI:10.4271/2020-01-0996
21	HOU W, ZOU T G, MAO F H, et al Dynamics model and analysis of tracked vehicle steering system. Proc. of the 6th International Conference on Intelligent Computing, Communication, and Devices, 2023, 800- 809.
22	ZHOU B C, CHEN S Y, HU J N, et al Multi-body dynamics modeling and test of an articulated steering half-track tractor. International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 2023, 16 (6): 124- 133.
23	PONORAC L, BLAGOJEVI I Experimental validation of a high-speed tracked vehicle powertrain simulation model. Measurement Science Review, 2023, 23 (5): 192- 201.
24	YUAN Y, GAI J T, ZENG G, et al Analysis and experimental verification of yaw motion response characteristics of high-speed tracked vehicle. Acta Armamentarii, 2024, 45 (4): 1094- 1107.
25	ZHANG R Z, ZHOU W, LIU H O, et al. A terramechanics-based dynamic model for motion control of unmanned tracked vehicles. IEEE Trans. on Intelligent Vehicles, 2024. DOI: 10.1109/TIV.2024.3406582.
26	HOU X Z, MA Y, XIANG C L Design and comparative study of steering controller for tracked vehicle based on disturbance observation. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, 2024, 238 (13): 4216- 4229.
27	FLIESS M, LVINE J, MARTIN P, et al Flatness and defect of non-linear systems: introductory theory and examples. Internation Journal of Control, 1995, 61 (6): 1327- 1361.
28	TANG S X, YUAN S H, HU J B, et al Modeling of steady-state performance of skid-steering for high-speed tracked vehicles. Journal of Terramechanics, 2017, 73, 25- 35.
29	HAN J Q From PID to active disturbance rejection control. IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, 2009, 56 (3): 900- 906.
30	ASTROM K J, HAGGLUND T Revisiting the Ziegler–Nichols step response method for PID control. Journal of Process Control, 2004, 14 (6): 635- 650.

[1]	Jie LI, Yuanqing XIA. On stability analysis of nonlinear ADRC-based control system with application to inverted pendulum problems [J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2024, 35(6): 1563-1573.
[2]	Junjie LIU, Mingwei SUN, Zengqiang CHEN, Qinglin SUN. High AOA decoupling control for aircraft based on ADRC [J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2020, 31(2): 393-402.
[3]	Yueyue Ma, Jie Guo, and Shengjing Tang. BTT autopilot design for agile missiles with aerodynamic uncertainty [J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2015, 26(4): 802-.
[4]	Ruiguang Yang, Mingwei Sun, and Zengqiang Chen. Active disturbance rejection control on first-order plant [J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2011, 22(1): 95-102.

Differential flatness ADRC for high-speed steering of tracked tank systems

RichHTML

PDF (PC)

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

Share this article

Figures/Tables 19

References 30

Related Articles 4

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments