Collision avoidance for mobile robots based on artificial potential field and obstacle envelope modelling. Issue 3 (1st August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Zhenyu; Hu, Guang; Feng, Lin; Wu, Jiping; Liu, Shenglan
• Is Part Of: Assembly automation. Volume 36:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 318
• Page End: 332
• Publication Date: 2016-08-01
• Subjects: Collision avoidance -- Artificial potential field -- Obstacle envelope modelling; Automation -- Periodicals; Automatic machinery -- Periodicals; Assembly-line methods -- Periodicals; Industrial engineering -- Periodicals; 670.42705
• DOI: 10.1108/AA-01-2016-008
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0144-5154

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the collision avoidance problem for a mobile robot by constructing an artificial potential field (APF) based on geometrically modelling the obstacles with a new method named the obstacle envelope modelling (OEM). Design/methodology/approach: The obstacles of arbitrary shapes are enveloped in OEM using the primitive, which is an ellipse in a two-dimensional plane or an ellipsoid in a three-dimensional space. As the surface details of obstacles are neglected elegantly in OEM, the workspace of a mobile robot is made simpler so as to increase the capability of APF in a clustered environment. Findings: Further, a dipole is applied to the construction of APF produced by each obstacle, among which the positive pole pushes the robot away and the negative pole pulls the robot close. Originality/value: As a whole, the dipole leads the robot to make a derivation around the obstacle smoothly, which greatly reduces the local minima and trajectory oscillations. Computer simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.