Energy-efficient mobile robot exploration

Abstract

Mobile robots can be used in many applications, including exploration in an unknown area. Robots usually carry limited energy so energy conservation is vital. This paper presents an approach for energy-efficient robot exploration. Our approach determines the next target for the robot to visit based upon orientation information. The robot plans the path between the current position to the next target in an energy-efficient way. Our method reduces repeated coverage, a common problem for most existing utility-based target selecting methods. We conduct simulations for both random and structured environments, and compare our method with a utility-based method that chooses the middle cell from the widest opening. Results show that our method can reduce energy consumption by 42% and traveling distance by 41%