Autonomous Navigation System for a Differential Drive Mobile Robot

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2024

Authors

Ferreira, MA (Author) Other; Moreira, LC (Author) Other; António Mendes Lopes (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Journal of Testing and Evaluation

Vol. 52

ISSN: 0090-3973

Publisher: American Society for Testing and Materials

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00Z-XJE

DOI: 10.1520/jte20230191

Abstract (EN): Mobile robotics is a rapidly expanding field of research because of its large number of applications. Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are used in multiple areas, such as industrial automation, logistics and warehouse management, museums, hospitals and restaurant assistance, space and ocean exploration, and many others. In this work, a navigation system for a low-cost mobile robot is proposed. It relies on state-of-the-art software suited for designing automated systems, robot applications, and computer vision algorithms. The robot is driven by two wheels powered by Beckhoff motors, controlled using Beckhoff's TwinCAT 3 automation software in an industrial computer. A separate small-sized Raspberry Pi computer handles the environment perception by processing the information acquired by a Lidar module and a webcam and the localization and planning through the Robot Operating System (ROS). Communication between the two computers yields a complete robot navigation system. This system is tested and subsequently tuned to achieve good performance. Experimental tests show that the navigation system is globally effective, and some limitations related to the robot's design and its navigation subsystem are discussed. The approach proposed in this work can be extended, adjusted, and used in other types of mobile robots.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 13