Module 14 · Phase 4: Localization and autonomy
Motion Control & Actuator Integration
Tune and validate controllers on a real robot: PID, cascaded loops, odometry calibration, wheel slip, saturation and ros2_control.
This overview is open. 9 of 9 guides are written; the others show Coming soon until they are complete and tested.
Questions this module answers
- How do I tune PID on a real robot and diagnose oscillation?
- Why does the robot fail to track velocity commands?
- How do I calibrate wheel radius and separation and detect wheel slip?
- How do I choose controller update rates and validate performance?
What it covers
- PID and cascaded control
- Position, velocity, torque control
- Wheel radius/separation calibration, encoders, slip
- Limits and saturation
- ros2_control
- Impedance/force control, MPC
Guides and design decisions
A. Engineering Guides (8)
- Tuning PID on a real robot
- Calibrating wheel radius, separation and encoders
- Diagnosing oscillation, saturation and slip
- Integrating a controller with ros2_control
- Validating controller performance
- Balance basics: the zero moment point and the inverted pendulum
- Whole-body control: tasks, priorities and the null space
- Model predictive control for robots: horizon, constraints and solve time
B. Design & Selection (1)
Diagnostics, tools and challenges
C. Troubleshooting (3)
- Robot does not follow velocity commandsMeasured velocity differs from the commanded velocity.
- Robot oscillates near obstaclesThe robot swings left and right or dithers beside an obstacle.
- Motor overheatsCase temperature rises or the driver thermally limits.
E. Design challenges (2)
- Challenge 1: Design an Autonomous Mobile RobotIndoor differential-drive robot: sensors, motor sizing, compute, power, ROS 2, LiDAR+IMU, SLAM, Nav2, tuning and validation.
- Challenge 5: Humanoid Locomotion IntegrationSimulated humanoid: model, actuators, IMU and joint sensing, state estimation, gait, whole-body control, MPC and validation.
Practical deliverables
- Tuning procedure
- Performance measurements
- Controller validation checklist
Read first: existing FixTheRobot lessons and labs
This module builds on these instead of repeating them.
- Tune a PID Controller Labs · Lab
- Fix the Oscillating Robot Labs · Lab
- Odometry and Motion Models SLAM · Lesson