Dynamic obstacle avoidance with a prototype mobile robot using acoustic, infrared and position sensing

Abstract

In this study, a small mobile robot is designed and built which employs infrared and acoustic sensors for detecting obstacles in the environment and a computer mouse for position sensing* that is installed underneath the robot. The robot is suitably designed for many robotics and sensing applications. The design of the robot and the dynamic obstacle avoidance algorithm are discussed in this study. The mobile robot is used in a real time dynamic obstacle avoidance application successfully. Linear Kalman hlter is employed in the smoothing of the obstacle's measured coordinates and velocities. Full autonomous operation is possible by updating the EPROM of the robot such that the dynamic obstacle avoidance algorithm is on the robot itself, not on the computer.