Adaptive Control of Path Tracking Based on Improved Pure Pursuit Algorithm

Path tracking accuracy is crucial in the navigation control of autonomous mobile robots. Traditional pure pursuit algorithms perform well on smooth paths but struggle on curved paths. To address the challenge of tracking tight curves on curved paths, an improved pure pursuit algorithm is proposed. It adaptively adjusts the preview distance based on the path curvature and determines the robot’s speed adaptively based on the turning radius. Additionally, the change rate of curvature is incorporated as a heuristic factor to adjust the preview distance and movement speed. The proposed algorithm is tested by using four typical paths. What’s more, it is also integrated into the autonomous navigation system to track the planned paths. Finally, prototype experiments demonstrate that compared to traditional algorithms, the proposed algorithm achieves higher accuracy and can handle more challenging paths.