The Concept of Fairway in Problems of Potential Guidance of Mobile Robots

Abstract

In modern robotics, the problems of local navigation of mobile robots—ensuring the targeted movement of the robot in an environment with obstacles, are increasingly relevant. At the same time, the most popular methods of local navigation of mobile robots are based on the artificial potential fields that generate virtual forces of attraction to the target and repulsion from obstacles. However, their application runs into the problem of potential wells—local traps for mobile robots. The paper presents a new method of potential guidance of mobile robots based on the concept of fairway, which not only solves the problem of traps, but also makes it possible to choose the optimal route for the robot to reach the target. We discuss the constructive aspects of the fairway method and propose the virtual particle method for finding the desired fairway on the potential force line map.