Use of laser rangefinder to detecting in surroundings of mobile robot the obstacles

Abstract

Detecting obstacles and creating a map of surroundings are essential problems for navigation system of unmanned vehicles. Perception systems for autonomous navigation of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) must detect all manner of potential navigation hazards. Until quite recently, UGV perception research had focused largely on perception of 3-D terrain geometry with range sensors, perception of roads, and to a lesser degree on perceiving other traffic. Research effort is now growing on recognizing vegetation to improve the efficiency of off-road navigation. This paper describes both Laser Rangefinder (LR) used for monitoring the environment and mapping system for representing general obstacles (positive, negative and concealment). In addition to using information provided by LR sensor, we use information supplied by Global Positioning System (GPS) and Internal Navigation System.