Dynamic Obstacle Avoidance for an Omnidirectional Mobile Robot

We have established a novel method of obstacle-avoidance motion planning for mobile robots in dynamic environments, wherein the obstacles are moving with general velocities and accelerations and their motion profiles are not pre-known. A hybrid system is presented in which a global deliberate approach is applied to determine the motion in the desired path line (DPL), and a local reactive approach is used for moving obstacle avoidance. A machine vision system is required to sense obstacle motion. Through theoretical analysis, simulation, and experimental validation applied to the Ohio University RoboCup robot, we show the method is effective to avoid collisions with moving obstacles in a dynamic environment. Corresponding author: Robert L. Williams II, Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering 259 Stocker Center, Ohio University Athens, OH 45701-2979 Phone: (740) 593-1096 Fax: (740) 593-0476 E-mail: [email protected] URL: oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~williar4