Integration of path planning, sensing and control in mobile robotics

Mobile MODRO is a modular mobile robot developed as a test platform for indoor applications at the Institute of Robotics in Zurich. The benchmark task for the modulator mobile robot is the distribution of internal mail in the new building of the Institute of Robotics. Progress thus far with respect to hardware, sensors and the software system is reported. The stability of the platform is considered in the presence of floor discontinuities. It is shown that it is possible to achieve near optimal steering and speed control. By considering noise sources and their propagation through an optical sensor, a model is derived for an amplitude modulated continuous wave lidar which produces range uncertainty information with each range estimate. At the highest level, efficient global and local path planning can be achieved using traditional search methods in combination with artificial neural network and fuzzy logic-based controllers