Target tracking and obstacle avoidance for mobile robots

The paper presents a real time motion planning and obstacle avoidance for an autonomous mobile robot. The robot is equipped with low-resolution optical sensors and electronic compass and is driven by stepper motor. Thus, there are three guidance modes: target tracking using optical sensors, directional guidance using compass, and dead reckoning. There are another optical sensors equipped on board to detect obstacles. The vehicle is controlled based on the information from these sensors. In the proposed technique, the control algorithm is switched to wall following mode when facing an obstacle. This technique is very simple but efficient. Several simulation and experiments demonstrate good performance even though using low-resolution sensors.