Development of a LiDAR Sensor-based Small Autonomous Driving Robot for Underground Mines and Indoor Driving Experiments

Abstract

In this study, a LiDAR sensor-based small autonomous driving robot for underground mines was developed. The robot measures the distances to the left- and right-wall surfaces using the LiDAR sensor and controls its steering according to the difference. In addition, using the Bluetooth beacon, the robot can be stopped automatically without any control when it gets close to the destination. An autonomous driving test of the robot was performed by constructing an indoor test site that simulates underground mine tunnels. As a result of 10 repeated driving experiments, the robot showed stable driving performance in widening, narrowing, and straight sections. In the curve section, the rate of deviation from the acceptable driving area was 38.75%; however, there were no collisions with the wall of the road.