An integrated path-planning and control approach for nonholonomic unicycles using switched local potentials

In this paper, navigation and control of an autonomous mobile unicycle robot in an obstacle-ridden environment is considered. The unicycle dynamic model used has two differentially driven wheels, with the motor torques as the system input. Two novel potential-field-based controllers are derived, which stabilize the robot within a surrounding circular area (henceforth called a bubble) of arbitrary size. The first controller takes the unicycle to the center of its bubble, while the second corrects its orientation. The designed potentials also work with a kinematic model. Explicit bounds for permissible initial speeds are derived, such that maximum torque limits and/or maximum speed limits are not violated once the controller is activated. These controllers are then embedded in a navigation framework. An existing global planner is used to first create a string of variable-sized bubbles which connect the start point to the goal point, with each bubble's size indicative of the radial obstacle clearance available from its center. The robot then keeps itself within a fixed-sized bubble, which it then moves in discrete steps, according to the direction provided by the global plan, while repulsively avoiding unexpected obstacles. Hence, the gross movement is created by switching local potential-field-based controllers. This scheme is first verified in computer simulation of a single robot moving in a maze. It is then implemented on an experimental setup of robots equipped with proximity sensors. Results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the system.