ROBNAV: A Range-Based Robot Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance Algorithm

Abstract

An algorithm has been developed that efficiently solves a large class of robot navigation and obstacle avoidance problems using range information as its sole input from the environment. The system resides in a minicomputer and requires very small memory (1500 words) and computing time (1.35 s) allocations while solving simulated problems of broadly ranging spatial complexity and operational intricacy. It is thus a prime candidate for use in mobile robots or manipulators where real-time operation is desired.