Automation of Mobility and Navigation

Abstract

This chapter deals with general concepts on the automation of mobility and autonomous navigation. The emphasis is on the control and navigation of autonomous vehicles. Thus, after an introduction with historical background and basic concepts, the chapter briefly reviews general concepts on vehicle motion control by using models of the vehicle, as well as other approaches based on the information provided by humans. Autonomous navigation is also studied, involving not only motion planning and trajectory generation but also interaction with the environment to provide reactivity and adaptation in the autonomous navigation. These interactions are represented by means of nested loops closed at different frequencies with different bandwidth requirements. The human interactions at different levels are also analyzed, taking into account transmission of control commands and feedback of sensory information. Finally, the chapter studies multiple mobile systems by analyzing coordinated navigation of multiple autonomous vehicles and cooperation paradigms for autonomous mission execution.