Bat-like sonar for guiding mobile robots

The problem of docking mobile robots using a bat-like sonar system is considered in the context of prey capture in two dimensions. Two measures of performance, the capture probability and the mean capture time when capture occurs, are evaluated as a function of the ratio of speeds of the prey to the pursuer and in terms of the control strategies employing their quantitative information (range and azimuth to prey) or qualitative information (prey is to the left or right). By constraining the prey motion to be linear, the lower bound for the capture time can be determined from game theory. Simulations and experiments with real mobile robots show that both capture probability and mean capture time are inversely related to the prey/pursuer speed ratio. It is also observed that, while qualitative information is sufficient for capture, quantitative information allows capture to occur over a large range of speed ratios. Overall, the results demonstrate that bat-like sonar represents an efficient sensing system.<>