NEO: Autonomous navigation by means of infrared sensors

Abstract

With the emergence of personal robotics applications, mobile robotics technology has reached beyond the factory floor into unstructured environments that have not been specifically engineered for robots. In contrast to conventional robots, the workspace of autonomous mobile robots can range from cosy domestic environments to rough factory floors. To feel at home in such unstructured environments, the robots need behaviours that are vastly different from those of factory robots. Therefore, autonomous mobile robots need the ability to move purposefully in real world environments without human intervention. Furthermore, widespread deployment calls for simple and inexpensive means of navigation. Meeting these conflicting requirements has been an elusive goal for mobile robotics researchers. For a mobile robot to reach reasonable autonomy, two basic requirements - collision sensing and reasoning for collision avoidance must be met. The first requirement is met by an onboard sensory system that gathers information from the environment while the second requirement is fulfilled by an algorithm that exploits this information to generate commands that ensure safe navigation of the robot within its working environment. This paper, illustrates how an Infrared sensory system is utilised for collision free navigation of a mobile robot in an unknown stationary environment.