Equiangular navigation guidance of a wheeled mobile robot with local obstacle avoidance

We consider the problem of navigation of wheeled mobile robot (WMR) towards an unknown target in a cluttered environment. The biologically inspired navigation algorithm is the equiangular navigation guidance (ENG) combined with a local obstacle avoidance technique. The collision avoidance technique uses a system of active sensors which provides the necessary information about the obstacles in the vicinity of the robot. In order for the robot to avoid collision and bypass the enroute obstacles, the angle between the instantaneous moving direction of the robot and a reference point on the surface of the obstacle is kept constant. The performance of the navigation strategy is confirmed with computer simulations and experiments with Active Media Pioneer 3-DX wheeled robot.