Real-Time Robot Navigation in Unstructured Environments Using a 3D Laser Rangefinder

In this paper a technique for real-time robot navigation is presented. Off-line planned trajectories and motions are modified in real-time to avoid obstacles, using a reactive behaviour. The information about the environment is provided to the control system of the robot by a rotating 3D laser sensor which have two degrees of freedom. Using this sensor, three dimensional information can be obtained, and can be used simultaneously for obstacle avoidance, robot self-localization and for 3D local map building. In this work we focus the attention in the obstacle avoidance problem with this kind of sensor. Experimental results in different indoor environments are reported, which show the versatility of the proposed technique to carry out typical tasks such as wall following, door crossing and motion in a room with several obstacles.

Keywords: Mobile Robot Navigation, Unstructured Environments, Obstacle Avoidance, Laser Rangefinder Sensors, Potential Fields techniques.