Obstacle avoidance system with sonar sensing and fuzzy logic

Wen-chuan Chiang; Nikhal Kelkar; Ernest L. Hall

doi:10.1117/12.290283

26 September 1997 Obstacle avoidance system with sonar sensing and fuzzy logic

Wen-chuan Chiang, Nikhal Kelkar, Ernest L. Hall

Proceedings Volume 3208, Intelligent Robots and Computer Vision XVI: Algorithms, Techniques, Active Vision, and Materials Handling; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.290283
Event: Intelligent Systems and Advanced Manufacturing, 1997, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

Abstract

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have many potential applications in manufacturing, medicine, space and defense. The purpose of this paper is to describe exploratory research on the design of an obstacle avoidance system using sonar sensors for a modular autonomous mobile robot controller. The advantages of a modular system are related to portability and the fact that any vehicle can become autonomous with minimal modifications. A mobile robot test-bed has been constructed using a golf cart base. The obstacle avoidance system is based on a micro-controller interfaced with multiple ultrasonic transducers. This micro-controller independently handles all timing and distance calculations and sends a distance measurement back to the computer via the serial line. This design yields a portable independent system. Testing of these systems has been done in the lab as well as on an outside test track with positive results that show that at five mph the vehicle can follow a line and at the same time avoid obstacles. This design, in its modularity, creates a portable autonomous obstacle avoidance controller applicable for any mobile vehicle with only minor adaptations.

Citation Download Citation

Wen-chuan Chiang, Nikhal Kelkar, and Ernest L. Hall "Obstacle avoidance system with sonar sensing and fuzzy logic", Proc. SPIE 3208, Intelligent Robots and Computer Vision XVI: Algorithms, Techniques, Active Vision, and Materials Handling, (26 September 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.290283

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