<title>Support system for mobile robot steering and control</title>

Abstract

The local navigation problem for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and its application to wheeled robots is addressed. The problem of driving an AMR to a goal in an unknown environment, containing both stationary as well as moving obstacles, is formulated as a dynamic feedback control problem. An algorithm using local feedback information to generate subgoals for driving the AMR along a collision-free trajectory to the goal is adopted. The local free-space for subgoal selections is constructed taking into account the locally visible obstacles and the AMR operating limits. A dynamic model of wheeled robots based on driving and steering mechanisms is derived. A controller design based on a self-tuning pole assignment approach is presented for motion reference trajectory tracking. Integration of local sensor data, system dynamics and operating constraints with a developed decision support system, for steering and control, is performed to produce the appropriate intelligent navigation decisions. Finally, the effectiveness of the navigation and control strategies in directing the AMR along a collision-free trajectory to the final goal in a finite time, is illustrated, by simulation.