A Nonholonomic Model and Complete Controllability of a Three-Link Wheeled Snake Robot

This paper is concerned with the controlled motion of a three-link wheeled snake robot propelled by changing the angles between the central and lateral links. The limits on the applicability of the nonholonomic model for the problem of interest are revealed. It is shown that the system under consideration is completely controllable according to the Rashevsky – Chow theorem. Possible types of motion of the system under periodic snake-like controls are presented using Fourier expansions. The relation of the form of the trajectory in the space of controls to the type of motion involved is found. It is shown that, if the trajectory in the space of controls is centrally symmetric, the robot moves with nonzero constant average velocity in some direction.