Guaranteed navigation with an unreliable blind robot

Abstract

We consider a navigation problem for a robot equipped with only a map, compass, and contact sensor. In addition to the limitations placed on sensing, we assume that there exists some bounded uncertainty on rotations of our robot, due to precision errors from the compass. We present an algorithm providing guaranteed transitions in the environment between certain pairs of points. The algorithm chains these transitions together to form complete navigation plans. The simplicity of the robot's design allows us to concentrate on the nature of the navigation problem, rather than the design and implementation of our robotic system. We illustrate the algorithm with an implementation and simulated results.