Obstacle Avoidance and Navigation of Autonomous Mobile Robot

Abstract

This paper presents a hybrid obstacle avoidance methodology for autonomous navigation of a mobile robot in an unstructured environment. Decision is taken based on the classical method depending on the environmental scenario where the space between multiple obstacles is measured and the feasibility of passing the robot through any immediate pair of obstacles examined. In other cases, the decision is taken by the Fuzzy Logic controller. The developed algorithm is simulated and experimentally validated with a mobile robot platform equipped with forward-looking sonar for obstacle detection. Odometry sensors assist in localization of the mobile robot. The developed algorithm is found adequately intelligent to navigate the robot from any start position through to the desired goal position avoiding obstacles, and without taking recourse to any pre-built map. The simulated results exhibit fair agreement with the experimental results.