Webots-Based: Design of Collision Free Trajectory of Wheeled Mobile Robot Using Artificial Potential Field

Wheeled mobile robot (WMR) is widely used in everyday life. The problem that arises in its implementation is navigation. Besides that, integrating navigation components, especially path planning, in a WMR kinematic model is considered very important to produce natural robot motion. One of the reliable path planning algorithms that can be used in real-time is Artificial Potential Field (APF). The weakness of this algorithm is that it can be stuck at the local minimum. Modification of APF (MAPF) which several researchers have proposed, serves to solve the drawbacks of this algorithm. This study aims to integrate and implement navigation capabilities in the WMR kinematics model, especially path planning. The test was carried out in a simulation using the Webots simulator. The robot used is an E-puck robot. E-puck is a differential drive mobile robot (DDMR) that uses two drivers to move. The results show that the MAPF path planning algorithm can be implemented well in the WMR kinematics model. Local minimum problems in the form of symmetrically aligned robot-obstacle-goal (SAROG) and goal non-reachable due to obstacle nearby (GNRON) in real conditions can be solved properly.