Curve-tracking control is challenging and fundamental in many robotic applications for an autonomous agent to follow a desired path. In this paper, we consider a particle, representing a fully actuated autonomous robot, moving at unit speed under steering control in the three-dimensional (3D) space. We develop a feedback control law that enables the particle to track any smooth curve in the 3D space. Representing the 3D curve in the natural Frenet frame, we construct the control law under which the moving direction of the particle will be aligned with the tangent direction of the desired curve and the distance between the particle and the desired curve will converge to zero. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed 3D curve-tracking control law in simulations.
Adaptive planar curve tracking control and robustness analysis under state constraints and unknown curvature