Navigation of Semi-autonomous Service Robots Using Local Information and Anytime Motion Planners

Abstract

SUMMARY This paper deals with the problem of navigating semi-autonomous mobile robots without global localization systems in unknown environments. We propose a planning-based obstacle avoidance strategy that relies on local maps and a series of short-time coordinate frames. With this approach, simple odometry and range information are sufficient to make the robot to safely follow the user commands. Different from reactive obstacle avoidance strategies, the proposed approach chooses a good and smooth local path for the robot. The methodology is evaluated using a mobile service robot moving in an unknown corridor environment populated with obstacles and people.