ROBAT: a sonar-based mobile robot for bat-like prey capture

The authors investigate the prey capture problem in an uncluttered environment for a mobile robot equipped with a wide-beam sonar system. An analytical lower bound for the mean capture time is derived by assuming complete information about the prey. Algorithms using qualitative and quantitative information are implemented for prey capture, and compared in terms of mean capture time and capture probability. Although qualitative information is sufficient, quantitative information assures more efficient prey capture to be achieved over a broader range of system parameters. Experimental results verifying the analysis and the simulations are provided