Developing Dynamic Navigation Software for a Laser Guided Autonomous Mobile Robot

The demand for autonomous machines is becoming increasingly present in today's growing economy. Autonomous robots and machines can provide services that are physically or economically infeasible for humans alone. To fill this demand for useful and relatively inexpensive services, autonomous machines must be reliable and efficient. This paper is focused on developing a guidance software system method for autonomous mobile robots. A mobile robot using an integrated Wavefront algorithm and an advanced laser sensor was able to complete tasks in a dynamic environment with accuracy and speed. The integrated system was developed in a MATLAB virtual environment and was tested in the real world by using a Pioneer mobile robot attached with a Hokuyo laser. Many scenarios were conducted, and the results showed the navigation system integrated with the robot was able to efficiently and accurately reach its goal destination, while avoiding dynamic obstacles.