Robot navigation through obstacles of general shapes using a center-line oriented algorithm

The problem of navigating a mobile robot around barriers in an unexplored terrain is studied, where all the obstacles within the terrain are not necessarily of polygonal shape or convex. A model map is used to memorize the configuration of the environment observed so far and it is updated while the robot is being navigated. With safety´ as a important factor to the solution of the problem, an algorithm which tends to find a center-line path among obstacles is proposed. The case where the sensor has only limited effective range is also considered. Detailed proof is provided of the collision-free and goal-convergent properties of the algorithm