Ultrasonic Wall-Following Controller For Mobile Robots

Abstract

Mobile robots can be distinguished from automatic guided vehicles by their lack of reliance on structured environments. Instead, mobile robots locate themselves using existing features in man-made environments. In this paper, a wall-following mobile robot relies on the existence of straight walls parallel to its desired path. Ultrasonic range sensors are used to measure range and bearing to the wall. A history of data points is maintained, and a least-squares fit to the wall is computed. If the quality of the data is sufficient, the range and bearing to the wall are used to update the robot's position. The robot then steers to maintain a path parallel to the wall.