This paper presents the conceptual and functional design of a novel hybrid leg-wheel-track ground mobile robot for surveillance and inspection, named WheTLHLoc (Wheel-Track-Leg Hybrid Locomotion). The aim of the work is the development of a general-purpose platform capable of combining tracked locomotion on irregular and yielding terrains, wheeled locomotion with high energy efficiency on flat and compact grounds, and stair climbing/descent ability. The architecture of the hybrid locomotion system is firstly outlined, then the validation of its stair climbing maneuver capabilities by means of multibody simulation is presented. The embodiment design and the internal mechanical layout are then discussed.

The application of Fractional Calculus to control mechatronic devices is a promising research area. The most common approach to Fractional-Order (FO) control design is the PIλDµ scheme, which adopts integrals and derivatives of non-integer order λ and µ. A different possible approach is to add FO terms to the PID control, instead of replacing integer order terms; for example, in the PDD1/2 scheme, the half-derivative term is added to the classical PD. In the present paper, by mainly focusing on the transitory behaviour, a comparison among PD, PDµ, and PDD1/2 control schemes is carried out, with reference to a real-world mechatronic implementation: a position-controlled rotor actuated by a DC brushless motor. While using a general non-dimensional approach, the three control schemes are first compared by continuous-time simulations, and tuning criteria are outlined. Afterwards, the effects of the discrete-time digital implementation of the controllers are investigated by both simulation and experimental tests. The results show how PDD1/2 is an effective and almost cost-free solution for improving the trajectory-tracking performance in position control of mechatronic devices, with limited computational burden and, consequently, easily implementable on most commercial motion control drives.

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Fractional Calculus is usually applied to control systems by means of the well-known PIlDm scheme, which adopts integral and derivative components of non-integer orders λ and µ. An alternative approach is to add equally distributed fractional-order terms to the PID scheme instead of replacing the integer-order terms (Distributed Order PID, DOPID). This work analyzes the properties of the DOPID scheme with five terms, that is the PII1/2DD1/2 (the half-integral and the half-derivative components are added to the classical PID). The frequency domain responses of the PID, PIlDm and PII1/2DD1/2 controllers are compared, then stability features of the PII1/2DD1/2 controller are discussed. A Bode plot-based tuning method for the PII1/2DD1/2 controller is proposed and then applied to the position control of a mechatronic axis. The closed-loop behaviours of PID and PII1/2DD1/2 are compared by simulation and by experimental tests. The results show that the PII1/2DD1/2 scheme with the proposed tuning criterium allows remarkable reduction in the position error with respect to the PID, with a similar control effort and maximum torque. For the considered mechatronic axis and trapezoidal speed law, the reduction in maximum tracking error is −71% and the reduction in mean tracking error is −77%, in correspondence to a limited increase in maximum torque (+5%) and in control effort (+4%).

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