A Low Cost Single Board Computer Based Mobile Robot Motion Planning System for Indoor Environments

Abstract

In this study, a low cost, flexible and modular structure is proposed for mobile robot motion planning systems in an indoor environment with obstacles. In this system, the mobile robot has to follow the shortest path to the target avoiding obstacles. It is designed as three main modules including image processing, path planning and robot motion blocks. These modules are embedded on a single board computer. In the image processing module, the image of the indoor environment, including a mobile robot, obstacles and a target, having different colors is taken to the single board computer with a wireless IP camera. This image is processed to find the locations of the mobile robot, obstacles and the target in C programming language using OpenCV. In path planning module, the shortest and optimal path is generated for the mobile robot. Generated path is applied to the robot motion module to produce necessary angles and distances for the mobile robot to reach the target. Since the structure of the proposed system is designed as modular and flexible, similar or different hardware, software or methods can be applied to these three modules.