Voyager, a ground mobile robotic platform for research development

Abstract

This paper describes a mobile ground-based robotic platform named Voyager which was developed to support robotics research and replace the old mobile robotic platform, the Pioneer. A comparative analysis was done with three mobile robot: platforms Pioneer 3-DX, Clearpath Robotics Jackal, and SuperDroid Robots VIPR to determine the requirements for Voyager's development. The Voyager is currently equipped with a 3D LiDAR scanner, inertial measurement unit, and camera to allow for the onboard software to perform obstacle avoidance as well as avoid non-traversable terrain when driving outdoors. This universal platform has been used for developing new algorithms for path planning, obstacle avoidance, localisation, and mapping.