Rut Detection for Mobile Robots

The guidance and control of autonomous ground vehicles on challenging terrains will improve if off-road driving rules, developed based on the knowledge of experienced off-road drivers, are taken into consideration when designing motion planners and control systems for robotic vehicles. When navigating on off-road surfaces, ruts are commonly encountered. If the vehicle does not guide itself properly in the presence of these ruts, the result may be poor vehicle performance or in some cases even instability. However, if the vehicle guidance system takes advantage of the extra traction that can be achieved by aligning itself with a rut, then a rut can actually be used to increase vehicle performance and stability. This paper presents a rut detection algorithm for mobile robots.