Blending reactivity and goal-directedness in a fuzzy controller

Controlling the movement of an autonomous mobile robot requires the ability to pursue strategic goals in a highly reactive way. The authors describe a fuzzy controller for such a mobile robot that can take abstract goals into consideration. Through the use of fuzzy logic, reactive behavior, e.g., avoiding obstacles on the way, and goal-oriented behavior, e.g., trying to reach a given location, are smoothly blended into one sequence of control actions. The technique proposed has been implemented in the SRI mobile robot Flakey, resulting in extremely smooth and reliable movement.<>