A review of mobile robots: Concepts, methods, theoretical framework, and applications
---
paper_title: Current trends in reconfigurable modular robots design

paper_content:

This article presents a review on trends in modular reconfigurable robots, comparing the evolution of the features of the most significant robots over the years and focusing on the latest designs. These features are reconfiguration, docking, degrees of freedom, locomotion, control, communications, size, and powering. For each feature, some of the most relevant designs are presented and the current trends in the design are discussed.
---
paper_title: Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots

paper_content:

Mobile robots range from the Mars Pathfinder mission's teleoperated Sojourner to the cleaning robots in the Paris Metro. This text offers students and other interested readers an introduction to the fundamentals of mobile robotics, spanning the mechanical, motor, sensory, perceptual, and cognitive layers the field comprises. The text focuses on mobility itself, offering an overview of the mechanisms that allow a mobile robot to move through a real world environment to perform its tasks, including locomotion, sensing, localization, and motion planning. It synthesizes material from such fields as kinematics, control theory, signal analysis, computer vision, information theory, artificial intelligence, and probability theory. The book presents the techniques and technology that enable mobility in a series of interacting modules. Each chapter treats a different aspect of mobility, as the book moves from low-level to high-level details. It covers all aspects of mobile robotics, including software and hardware design considerations, related technologies, and algorithmic techniques.] This second edition has been revised and updated throughout, with 130 pages of new material on such topics as locomotion, perception, localization, and planning and navigation. Problem sets have been added at the end of each chapter. Bringing together all aspects of mobile robotics into one volume, Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots can serve as a textbook or a working tool for beginning practitioners.
---
paper_title: Mobile Robots for Dynamic Environments

paper_content:

One key point for mobile robots is interaction with the environment in which the mobile robot moves and corresponding solutions can determine the success or failure of the motion. Indeed, the mechanical design is not very often considered a critical issue, but rather it is often included as an issue in the overall design of mechanical solutions within servo-controlled operation and environment interaction. A second important issue is the acceptance of robotic systems and the corresponding psychological aspects, when robots are proposed to operators and users in fields with very low levels of technical means in their current work practice. These two subjects are the core of the discussions in this book, which aims to illustrate not only the potential but also the problems for the dissemination of mobile robots and mobile robotic systems in all human activities with service aims.
---
paper_title: Designs and Prototypes of Mobile Robots

paper_content:

Interdisciplinary work for engineering developments of mobile robots, in both old and new applications. This book and its companion can be used as a graduate level course books or guide books for the practicing engineer who is working on a specific problem which is described in one of the chapters.
---
paper_title: Review and Latest Trends in Mobile Robots Used on Power Transmission Lines

paper_content:

This paper presents the current state of the art in mobile robots used on power transmission lines. Many theoretical and experimental studies have been conducted in order to develop autonomous machines to travel along transmission lines to perform inspection and/or repair work. These machines can improve efficiency, reduce labour costs and are expected to reduce the risk of injury to maintenance personnel. Despite there already being a number of pieces of theoretical research and technological developments in this area, problems related to stability, ability and autonomy still exist. As such, first this paper presents the main studies already carried out and the devices generally used on power transmission lines. After the latest trends have been presented, a new idea for module robots carrying out inspections/maintenance of power transmission lines is presented. Finally, the future of mobile robots applied to power transmission lines is discussed.
---
paper_title: Development and Control of a High Maneuverability Wheeled Robot with Variable-Structure Functionality

paper_content:

Common wheeled robots face many difficulties when traveling in complex environments, especially its incapability to climb over obstacles higher than its wheel radius. Many alterations were made to these robots to allow them to travel in rough terrains or conquer high obstacles, nevertheless, most designs are complex in nature and lost several original wheeled robot advantages by gaining others. In this paper, we propose a novel wheeled type robot with variable structure functionality. It is designed with simple structure consisting of three main robot parts, the main body, the left and right wheel-arm units. The robot could achieve five locomotion modes that allows the robot to travel in various environments and climb over high obstacles. Moreover, the fast-speed advantage in flat floor condition that common wheeled robot originally hold is still remained. The confirmation of the effectiveness of the robot's maneuverability is shown by several experimental results.
---
paper_title: Review of modelling and control of two-wheeled robots

paper_content:

Abstract In the past decade, there has been much more research in two-wheeled robots which actively stabilize themselves. Various models and controllers have been applied both to explain and control the dynamics of two-wheeled robots. We explore the methods which have been investigated and the controllers which have been used, first for balancing and movement of two-wheeled robots on flat terrain, then for two-wheeled robots in other situations, where terrain may not be flat, where there may be secondary objectives and where the robots may have additional actuators.
---
paper_title: Experimental study on energy efficiency for quadruped walking vehicles

paper_content:

Though a legged robot has high terrain adaptability as compared with a wheeled vehicle, its moving speed is considerably low in general. For attaining a high moving speed with a legged robot, a dynamically stable gait, such as running for a biped robot and a trot gait or a bound gait for a quadruped robot, is a promising solution. However, the energy efficiency of the dynamically stable gait is generally lower than the efficiency of the stable gait such as a crawl gait. In this paper, we present an experimental study on the energy efficiency of a quadruped walking vehicle. Energy consumption of two walking patterns for a trot gait is investigated through experiments using a quadruped walking vehicle named TITAN-VIII. The obtained results show that the 3D sway compensation trajectory proposed in our previous paper [R. Kurazume et al., 2002] has advantages in view of energy efficiency as compared with the original sway compensation trajectory.
---
paper_title: The Google Car: Driving Toward A Better Future?

paper_content:

Google’s dramatic ascent and subsequent domination in the past fifteen years of the technology and information industries has financially enabled Google to explore seemingly unrelated projects ranging from Google Mail to the Google Car. In particular, Google has invested a significant amount of resources in the Google Car, an integrated system that allows for the driverless operation of a vehicle. While initial reports indicate that the Google Car driverless automobile will be more safe and efficient than current vehicles, the Google Car is not without its critics. In particular, the existential threat that the car presents to several large industries, including the insurance, health care and construction industries, creates an additional challenge to the success of the Google Car well beyond the standard competitive threats from other established car manufacturers in the automobile industry, which begs the question, “Can the Google Car be successful?” With so many challenges above and beyond the competitive forces typically threatening long-term profitability, will the Google Car be able to create and sustain a competitive advantage for Google in the driverless car space?
---
paper_title: Autonomous navigation for BigDog

paper_content:

BigDog is a four legged robot with exceptional rough-terrain mobility. In this paper, we equip BigDog with a laser scanner, stereo vision system, and perception and navigation algorithms. Using these sensors and algorithms, BigDog performs autonomous navigation to goal positions in unstructured forest environments. The robot perceives obstacles, such as trees, boulders, and ground features, and steers to avoid them on its way to the goal. We describe the hardware and software implementation of the navigation system and summarize performance. During field tests in unstructured wooded terrain, BigDog reached its goal position 23 of 26 runs and traveled over 130 meters at a time without operator involvement.
---
paper_title: Multi-Modal Locomotion Robotic Platform Using Leg-Track-Wheel Articulations

paper_content:

Other than from its sensing and processing capabilities, a mobile robotic platform can be limited in its use by its ability to move in the environment. Legs, tracks and wheels are all efficient means of ground locomotion that are most suitable in different situations. Legs allow to climb over obstacles and change the height of the robot, modifying its viewpoint of the world. Tracks are efficient on uneven terrains or on soft surfaces (snow, mud, etc.), while wheels are optimal on flat surfaces. Our objective is to work on a new concept capable of combining different locomotion mechanisms to increase the locomotion capabilities of the robotic platform. The design we came up with, called AZIMUT, is symmetrical and is made of four independent leg-track-wheel articulations. It can move with its articulations up, down or straight, allowing the robot to deal with three-dimensional environments. AZIMUT is also capable of moving sideways without changing its orientation, making it omnidirectional. By putting sensors on these articulations, the robot can also actively perceive its environment by changing the orientation of its articulations. Designing a robot with such capabilities requires addressing difficult design compromises, with measurable impacts seen only after integrating all of the components together. Modularity at the structural, hardware and embedded software levels, all considered concurrently in an iterative design process, reveals to be key in the design of sophisticated mobile robotic platforms.
---
paper_title: Linear model predictive control of the locomotion of Pepper, a humanoid robot with omnidirectional wheels

paper_content:

The goal of this paper is to present a new realtime controller based on linear model predictive control for an omnidirectionnal wheeled humanoid robot. It is able to control both the mobile base of the robot and its body, while taking into account dynamical constraints. It makes it possible to have high velocity and acceleration motions by predicting the dynamic behavior of the robot in the future. Experimental results are proposed on the robot Pepper made by Aldebaran, showing good performance in terms of robustness and tracking control, efficiently managing kinematic and dynamical constraints.
---
paper_title: STriDER: Self-Excited Tripedal Dynamic Experimental Robot

paper_content:

STriDER (Self-Excited Tripedal Dynamic Experimental Robot) is a novel three-legged walking machine that exploits the concept of actuated passive dynamic locomotion to dynamically walk with high energy efficiency and minimal control. Unlike other passive dynamic walking machines, this unique tripedal locomotion robot is inherently stable with its tripod stance, can change directions, and is relatively easy to implement, making it practical to be used for real life applications. STriDER begins its step with a stable stance like a camera tripod. As the center of gravity of the robot shifts forward pass the "pivot line" defined by the two feet of the stance legs, the robot begins to fall in the direction perpendicular to the pivot line. The middle leg naturally swings between the two stance legs using the concept of actuated passive dynamic locomotion. The swing leg then catches the fall and the robot resets to its original tripod posture in preparation for its next step. STriDER can easily change its direction of walking, simply by changing the sequence of choice of the swing leg and the stance legs. In this video, we present the concept of this novel walking machine and the mechanical design of the first prototype. The results from the dynamic simulation and a simple experiment for a single step are presented for comparison
---
paper_title: Mars Science Laboratory Mission and Science Investigation

paper_content:

Scheduled to land in August of 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission was initiated to explore the habitability of Mars. This includes both modern environments as well as ancient environments recorded by the stratigraphic rock record preserved at the Gale crater landing site. The Curiosity rover has a designed lifetime of at least one Mars year (∼23 months), and drive capability of at least 20 km. Curiosity’s science payload was specifically assembled to assess habitability and includes a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer and gas analyzer that will search for organic carbon in rocks, regolith fines, and the atmosphere (SAM instrument); an x-ray diffractometer that will determine mineralogical diversity (CheMin instrument); focusable cameras that can image landscapes and rock/regolith textures in natural color (MAHLI, MARDI, and Mastcam instruments); an alpha-particle x-ray spectrometer for in situ determination of rock and soil chemistry (APXS instrument); a laser-induced breakdown spectrometer to remotely sense the chemical composition of rocks and minerals (ChemCam instrument); an active neutron spectrometer designed to search for water in rocks/regolith (DAN instrument); a weather station to measure modern-day environmental variables (REMS instrument); and a sensor designed for continuous monitoring of background solar and cosmic radiation (RAD instrument). The various payload elements will work together to detect and study potential sampling targets with remote and in situ measurements; to acquire samples of rock, soil, and atmosphere and analyze them in onboard analytical instruments; and to observe the environment around the rover.
---
paper_title: Design of omnimobile robot wheels

paper_content:

Typical mobile robot structures (e.g. wheelchair or car-like) do not have the required mobility for common applications such as displacement in a corridor, hospital and office. New structures based on the "universal wheel" (i.e. a wheel equipped with free rotating rollers) have been developed to increase mobility. However these structures have important drawbacks such as vertical vibration and limited load capacity. This paper presents a comparison of several types of universal wheel performances based on the three following criteria: load capacity, surmountable bumps and vertical vibration. It is hoped that this comparison will help the designer in the selection of the best suitable solution for his/her application.
---
paper_title: Development of an omni-directional mobile robot with 3 DOF decoupling drive mechanism

paper_content:

A new driving mechanism for holonomic omnidirectional mobile robots is designed, which enables 3 DOF motion control by three correspondent actuators in a decoupled manner with no redundancy. A prototype of the omnidirectional mobile robot with the driving mechanism is developed including a parallel link suspension mechanism. The kinematics of the omnidirectional mobile robot is also analyzed, and simulation for velocity control of the robot is performed by a method for velocity modulation with interpolation to achieve the given target position and velocity.
---
paper_title: Cassino Hexapod : Experiences and new leg design

paper_content:

Many different designs for the walking machines exist, some of them are based on wheels and another type of walking machines have anthropomorphic legs. A third kind of walking machine, which has both wheels and legs, is called as a hybrid. The hybrid robots are efficient for all kinds of environments. A low cost hexapod robot prototype with legs and wheels has been developed at LARM in Cassino and named as Cassino Hexapod. In this paper we are described experimental tests on one leg of the Cassino Hexapod and also the obtained results are presented as referring to design a new leg for hexapod robot, numerical results and laboratory tests.
---
paper_title: BigDog , the Rough-Terrain Quadruped Robot

paper_content:

Abstract Less than half the Earth's landmass is accessible to existing wheeled and tracked vehicles. But people and animals using their legs can go almost anywhere. Our mission at Boston Dynamics is to develop a new breed of rough-terrain robots that capture the mobility, autonomy and speed of living creatures. Such robots will travel in outdoor terrain that is too steep, rutted, rocky, wet, muddy, and snowy for conventional vehicles. They will travel in cities and in our homes, doing chores and providing care, where steps, stairways and household clutter limit the utility of wheeled vehicles. Robots meeting these goals will have terrain sensors, sophisticated computing and power systems, advanced actuators and dynamic controls. We will give a status report on BigDog, an example of such rough-terrain robots.
---
paper_title: Review article: locomotion systems for ground mobile robots in unstructured environments

paper_content:

Abstract. The world market of mobile robotics is expected to increase substantially in the next 20 yr, surpassing the market of industrial robotics in terms of units and sales. Important fields of application are homeland security, surveillance, demining, reconnaissance in dangerous situations, and agriculture. The design of the locomotion systems of mobile robots for unstructured environments is generally complex, particularly when they are required to move on uneven or soft terrains, or to climb obstacles. This paper sets out to analyse the state-of-the-art of locomotion mechanisms for ground mobile robots, focussing on solutions for unstructured environments, in order to help designers to select the optimal solution for specific operating requirements. The three main categories of locomotion systems (wheeled – W, tracked – T and legged – L) and the four hybrid categories that can be derived by combining these main locomotion systems are discussed with reference to maximum speed, obstacle-crossing capability, step/stair climbing capability, slope climbing capability, walking capability on soft terrains, walking capability on uneven terrains, energy efficiency, mechanical complexity, control complexity and technology readiness. The current and future trends of mobile robotics are also outlined.
---
paper_title: Locomotion among dynamic obstacles for the honda ASIMO

paper_content:

We have equipped a Honda ASIMO humanoid with the ability to navigate autonomously in obstacle-filled environments. In addition to finding its way through known, fixed obstacle configurations, the planning system can reason about the future state of the world to locomote through challenging environments when the obstacle motions can be inferred from observation. This video presents work using a vision system to predict the velocities of objects in the scene, allowing ASIMO to safely navigate autonomously through a dynamic environment. Neither obstacle positions nor velocities are known at the start of the trial, but are estimated online as the robot walks. The planner constantly adjusts the footstep path with the latest estimates of ASIMO's position and the obstacle trajectories, allowing the robot to successfully circumnavigate the moving obstacles.
---
paper_title: Stability analysis of a tri-wheel mobile robot

paper_content:

This paper presents a solution to the stability problem for a tri-wheel mobile robot with non-slip castor wheel. It is assumed that the robot is moving on a flat ground. The stability analysis is conducted for a nonholonomic robot model by means of the Lyapunov's direct method.
---
paper_title: Online Minimum-Energy Trajectory Planning and Control on a Straight-Line Path for Three-Wheeled Omnidirectional Mobile Robots

paper_content:

To maximize total operating time, an online minimum-energy translational and rotational velocity trajectory planning and control system is presented on a straight-line path for three-wheeled omnidirectional mobile robots (TOMRs). We suggest an efficient online trajectory planning algorithm, which minimizes a practical cost function as the energy that is drawn from batteries to motors, which is based on an accurate TOMR dynamic model that includes both the Coriolis force and the actuator motor dynamics. Using Pontryagin's minimum principle, we find the minimum-energy rotational velocity trajectory in analytic form. Then, the minimum-energy translational velocity trajectory is found using a novel algorithm that has a time complexity of O(n), which is based on a linearity condition on the state transition of TOMRs. Moreover, a trajectory control system is implemented using the resolved-acceleration control to validate the actual performance. Simulation and experiment results show that these minimum-energy trajectories can save energy up to 4.76% compared with the energy-efficient trapezoidal velocity profile and up to 5.29% compared with the loss-minimization control.
---
paper_title: Walking programming for an electropneumatic biped robot

paper_content:

An anthropomorphic ElectroPneumatic WAlking Robot named as EP-WAR has been designed and built at the Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics of Cassino University. Stability problems have been solved by a suitable use of suction-cups, which have been installed on the underside of each foot. Each leg mechanism has been designed and composed by a pantograph with a double articulated parallelogram. The EP-WAR mechatronic design has been conceived by using a pneumatic actuation and electronic control via PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). In addition a suitable programming technique has been developed in order to increase the flexibility of the EP-WAR prototype that can walk along any trajectory in the plane of the motion. Three walking modules and subroutine programs have been introduced and discussed for straight line path, right turn and left turn. Any walking path can be easily obtained by assembling the proposed subroutines in a suitable main program.
---
paper_title: Three-Dimensional Kinematic Analysis of the Actuated Spoke Wheel Robot

paper_content:

A current problem for mobile robots in unstructured environments is their lack of general mobility. Wheeled, treaded, and legged robots each have their advantages and disadvantages, but they all lack the flexibility to be able to cope with a wide range of terrain. The actuated spoke wheel system was presented in an earlier work as an alternative locomotive method that allows unique mobility capabilities to cope with various situations. This paper presents the three-dimensional kinematic analysis of the actuated spoke wheel system with no slip and no bounce constraints at the ground contacts for a robot using a two actuated spoke wheel configuration. The first analysis will cover the case when the axle is coplanar with the line connecting the contact points, called the pivot line, and show results from two examples, corresponding to steady state turning and, in the special case, straight-line walking. The second case will describe the configuration when the pivot line is skew with the axle, comparing the robot in this configuration to an SPPS spatial mechanism. This comparison will lead to the recommendation of a more general model, based on the SPPS mechanism, that will be used to analyze the motion in both configurations.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
---
paper_title: Asymmetrical prototype of a five-wheeled robot and maneuver analysis

paper_content:

An innovative asymmetrical prototype of a five-wheeled robot is first proposed with reconfiguration features. Based on mechanical prototype, the fifth wheel with slippage measurement is then rendered for details. In terms of s maneuver features, different control strategy and steering performance for asymmetrical prototype with rhomboid shape have been discussed analytically. At last some tests including reconfiguration tests, straight-line motion and traversing tests have been implemented.
---
paper_title: Intuitive Control of a Planar Bipedal Walking Robot

paper_content:

Natural dynamics can be exploited in the control of bipedal walking robots: the swing leg can swing freely once started; a kneecap can be used to prevent the leg from inverting; and a compliant ankle can be used to naturally transfer the center of pressure along the foot and help in toe off. Each of these mechanisms helps make control easier to achieve and results in motion that is smooth and natural looking. We describe a simple control algorithm using these natural mechanisms which requires very little computation. The necessary sensing consists of joint angles and velocities, body pitch and angular velocity, and ground reaction forces. Using this simple algorithm, we have controlled a seven link planar bipedal robot, called Spring Flamingo, to walk. Video, photographs, and more information on Spring Flamingo can be found at http://www.leglab.ai.mit.edu
---
paper_title: Wheel & Track hybrid robot platform for optimal navigation in an urban environment

paper_content:

Various robot platforms are used for tasks in a variety of disaster fields. For public safety in some urban environments, a novel wheel and track hybrid robot platform which is able to perform fast navigation in flatland and stairs is developed. For its applicability on various environments, we devised a transformable track structure which can climb stairs and navigate the flat floor rapidly. The transformable track can transfer the power with three actuators. Track arms installed in front, rear, and side are used for mode change between floor-navigation and stair-climbing. When the robot navigates on a flatland, tracks on its left and right side are down-folded and kept up folded posture in which four wheels are exposed to the outside of tracks. In this floor-navigation mode, the robot fast navigates flat floors without contact between tracks and the floor. When the robot ascends stairs, the robot spreads tracks until they enclose four wheels. In the stair-climbing mode, two tracks are working. The wheel and track hybrid robot platform was verified by real-navigation experiments in some indoor test-bed environments. The experimental result shows that the developed robot platform has good performance in climbing stair with two tracks and navigating flatland. The platform's maximum speed on flatland is 7.2 km/h and its maximum slope to climbing is an angle of 45 degrees.
---
paper_title: Autonomy for Mars Rovers: Past, Present, and Future

paper_content:

The vehicles used to explore the Martian surface require a high degree of autonomy to navigate challenging and unknown terrain, investigate targets, and detect scientific events. Increased autonomy will be critical to the success of future missions. In July 1997, as part of NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission, the Sojourner rover became the first spacecraft to autonomously drive on another planet. The twin Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) vehicles landed in January 2004, and after four years Spirit had driven more than four miles and Opportunity more than seven miles-lasting well past their projected three-month lifetime and expected distances traveled. The newest member of the Mars rover family will have the ability to autonomously approach and inspect a target and automatically detect interesting scientific events. In fall 2009, NASA plans to launch the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, with a primary mission of two years of surface exploration and the ability to acquire and process rock samples. In the near future, the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, a cooperative project of NASA and the European Space Agency, will likely use a lightweight rover to drive out and collect samples and bring them back to an Earth return vehicle. This rover will use an unprecedented level of autonomy because of the limited lifetime of a return rocket on the Martian surface and the desire to obtain samples from distant crater walls.
---
paper_title: Design of quadruped walking and climbing robot

paper_content:

This paper describes an integrated approach for the design of a quadruped robot, called "MRWALLSPECT III (multifunctional robot for wall inspection version 3)", which walks in planes as well as climb walls with suction pads. Since the robot is expected to be able to move from wall to wall to plane including negotiating convex or concave corners, a comprehensive study is needed to develop the robot by performing intuitive and geometrical analysis, critical aspects of design such as joint ranges, design of ankles, and location of actuators are discussed. Environmental geometries are classified into several groups, and criteria for design are proposed for each case. The proposed criteria are applied to the actual design of MRWALLSPECT III designed to carry an ultrasonic NDT tool for inspection of the large surface of industrial utilities. By implementing the proposed idea on the robot its effectiveness is experimentally confirmed.
---
paper_title: Design and Stability Analysis of a Wheel-Track Robot

paper_content:

The wheel-track robot is a new type of mobile robot combining a wheel and a track in a single component, which can quickly switch between in wheel mode and track mode. The wheel-track mobile robot system is proposed in this paper, comprising two operation modes, including wheel motion and track motion. And the dynamic stability analysis is a strong basis on structure design of the robot. As well as the two modes of the robot turning experiments contrast. The result shows that theoretical analysis and the robot's design are reasonable. The robot mechanism is simple and compact, and it has a good practical value and application prospect.
---
paper_title: Dante II: Technical Description, Results, and Lessons Learned

paper_content:

Dante II is a unique walking robot that provides important insight into high-mobility robotic locomotion and remote robotic exploration. Dante II’s uniqueness stems from its combined legged and rappelling mobility system, its scanning-laser rangefinder, and its multilevel control scheme. In 1994 Dante II was deployed and successfully tested in a remote Alaskan volcano, as a demonstration of the fieldworthiness of these technologies. For more than five days the robot explored alone in the volcano crater using a combination of supervised autonomous control and teleoperated control. Human operators were located 120 km distant during the mission. This article first describes in detail the robot, support systems, control techniques, and user interfaces. We then describe results from the battery of field tests leading up to and including the volcanic mission. Finally, we put forth important lessons which comprise the legacy of this project. We show that framewalkers are appropriate for rappelling in severe terr...
---
paper_title: Design of prismatic quadruped walking vehicle TITAN VI

paper_content:

A quadruped walking vehicle TITAN VI having a new leg mechanism is designed and manufactured. Objectives of design of TITAN VI are to walk on an ordinary staircase of 30 to 40 degrees, to constitute an active platform which assists manipulation in the stationary condition, and to walk at a high speed by using dynamic walk. The new mechanisms introduced in TITAN VI are, 1) prismatic joint leg mechanism which does not interfere with the steps of a staircase, and which performs a cylindrical coordinates motion with good energy efficiency, 2) an articulated body structure having node which copes with a steep staircase, 3) a vertical foot driving system having a dual mode transmission mechanism and the like. The detail of these mechanisms are discussed. The effectiveness of these considerations are verified by the walking experiment using the trial-manufactured TITAN VI.
---
paper_title: Online footstep planning for humanoid robots

paper_content:

We present an online algorithm for planning sequences of footstep locations that encode goal-directed navigation strategies for humanoid robots. Planning footsteps is more general than most existing navigation methods designed for wheeled robots, since the options of stepping over or upon obstacles in a cluttered terrain are available. Given a discrete set of plausible footstep locations, a forward dynamic programming approach is used to compute a footstep sequence to a specified goal location in the environment. Heuristics designed to minimize the number and complexity of the step motions are used to encode cost functions used for searching a footstep transition graph. If successful, the planner returns an optimal sequence of footstep locations according to the cost functions and plausible sets of footstep locations defined. We show results from an experimental implementation of the algorithm running on the H7 humanoid robot. Using a stereo vision system to sense obstacles in the immediate environment and identify a target goal location, the robot updates the current optimal footstep sequence to the goal from its present location.
---
paper_title: Development of quadruped walking robot TITAN-VIII

paper_content:

We discuss the development of the quadruped walking robot TITAN-VIII, especially about its leg mechanism and results of experiments using a one-leg model. In the design of TITAN-VIII, we have considered not only about "high performance of the movement" but also about "low cost", "simplicity of the treatment", "simplicity of the functional extension", etc. We introduce a driving system using wires, which is helpful to achieve these objectives. We first constructed a one-leg model of TITAN-VIII. By using this model, we did experiments and made remarks about the feature of response, velocity, force and energy consumption. From these results, we estimated the limitation of the walking velocity of TITAN-VIII in standard walking posture. We discuss the standard walking posture of TITAN-VIII based on the energy efficiency.
---
paper_title: The Study on Optimal Gait for Five-Legged Robot with Reinforcement Learning

paper_content:

The research of legged robot was rapidly developed. It can be seen from recent ideas about new systems of robot movement that take ideas from nature, called biology inspired. This type of robot begins replacing wheeled robot with various functions and interesting maneuvers ability. However, designers should decide how many legs are required to realize the ideas. One of the ideas that are rarely developed is odd number of legs. This research focused on five legs robot that inspired from starfish. To realize the intelligent system in robot that does not depend on the model, this research used reinforcement learning algorithm to find the optimal gait when robot is walking. In order to achieve this goal, trial and error have been used to provide learning through an interaction between robot and environment based on a policy of reward and punishment. The algorithm is successfully implemented to get the optimal gait on a five-legged robot.
---
paper_title: Legged Robotic Systems

paper_content:

Walking machines have been attempted since the beginning of the technology of transportation machinery with the aim to overpass the limits of wheeled systems by looking at legged solutions in nature. But only since the last part of the 20-th century very efficient walking machines have been conceived, designed, and built with good performances that are suitable for practical applications carrying significant payload with relevant flexibility and versatility. In this chapter we have presented a survey of the variety of current solutions and prototypes of walking machines and we have illustrated fundamental characteristics and problems for their design and operation. The worldwide feasibility of walking machines is presented by discussing the activity at LARM: Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics in Cassino (Italy) as concerning with low-cost easy-operation solutions that can really make the walking machines available to non expert users for many applications.
---
paper_title: A recursive least square approach to a disturbance observer design for balancing control of a single-wheel robot system

paper_content:

Disturbance observer(DOB) has been known as a simple robust control method to reject disturbances. Design of Q filters is considered as the most important design technique for the DOB design to compensate for the possible improperness of the inverse model of the plant as well as a non minimum phase. Many efforts on Q-filter design have been accomplished to realize a stable filter for the inverse of the nominal model in the DOB. In this paper, a recursive least square approach to a disturbance observer (RbDOB) for modeling the plant is proposed. A recursive least square method is used to estimate model parameters of the 2nd order model through an input-output FIR filtering. Experimental studies of balancing control performances of a single-wheel robot by DOB and RbDOB are compared.
---
paper_title: Kinematic Design of an All-Terrain Autonomous Holonomic Rover

paper_content:

In this paper we discuss the aspects of kinematic design of an all-terrain 4-wheel drive rover with synchronous wheels-steer (4WDS). The system poses a hybrid-type of holonomy constrained by the locomotion design. The locomotion system is assumed to have rigid supporting devices with no dumpering effects in a first study. The proposed kinematic solution (direct/inverse) provides the capability to develop holonomic control of trajectories. This manuscript also includes a modeling analysis on a pose control law suggesting a formal resource to future intelligent navigational algorithms in practical applications. We present numerical simulation results on modeling and design of the robotic platform.
---
paper_title: Techniques for Improving Vision and Locomotion on the Sony AIBO Robot

paper_content:

The restricted setting and uniformly prescribed hardware of the Sony Legged League of RoboCup provide an environment for testing algorithms on autonomous robots with a view towards possible applications in real world situations. In this study we show how two techniques - Support Vector Machines and Hill Climbing - can be applied to problems faced by the robots in this league. We use Support Vector Machines to perform collision detection and also to assist the process of color classification, while a Hill Climbing algorithm is employed to improve straight line walking speed through walk parameter optimisation.
---
paper_title: Optimization based full body control for the atlas robot

paper_content:

One popular approach to controlling humanoid robots is through inverse kinematics (IK) with stiff joint position tracking. On the other hand, inverse dynamics (ID) based approaches have gained increasing acceptance by providing compliant motions and robustness to external perturbations. However, the performance of such methods is heavily dependent on high quality dynamic models, which are often very difficult to produce for a physical robot. IK approaches only require kinematic models, which are much easier to generate in practice. In this paper, we supplement our previous work with ID-based controllers by adding IK, which helps compensate for modeling errors. The proposed full body controller is applied to three tasks in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Trials in Dec. 2013.
---
paper_title: Ocean One: A Robotic Avatar for Oceanic Discovery

paper_content:

The promise of oceanic discovery has long intrigued scientists and explorers, whether with the idea of studying underwater ecology and climate change or with the hope of uncovering natural resources and historic secrets buried deep in archaeological sites. This quest to explore the oceans requires skilled human access, yet much of the oceans are inaccessible to human divers; nearly ninetenths of the ocean floor is at 1 km or deeper [1]. Accessing these depths is imperative since factors such as pollution and deep-sea trawling threaten ecology and archaeological sites. While remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are inadequate for the task, a robotic avatar could go where humans cannot and still embody human intelligence and intentions through immersive interfaces.
---
paper_title: Footstep Planning for the Honda ASIMO Humanoid

paper_content:

Despite the recent achievements in stable dynamic walking for many humanoid robots, relatively little navigation autonomy has been achieved. In particular, the ability to autonomously select foot placement positions to avoid obstacles while walking is an important step towards improved navigation autonomy for humanoids. We present a footstep planner for the Honda ASIMO humanoid robot that plans a sequence of footstep positions to navigate toward a goal location while avoiding obstacles. The possible future foot placement positions are dependent on the current state of the robot. Using a finite set of state-dependent actions, we use an A* search to compute optimal sequences of footstep locations up to a time-limited planning horizon. We present experimental results demonstrating the robot navigating through both static and dynamic known environments that include obstacles moving on predictable trajectories.
---
paper_title: Mechanical design of the Wheel-Leg hybrid mobile robot to realize a large wheel diameter

paper_content:

In this paper, a new category of the wheel-leg hybrid robot is presented. The proposed mechanism can compose large wheel diameter compared with the previous hybrid robot to realize a greater ability to climb obstacles. A prototype model of one Wheel-Leg module of the proposed robot mechanism has been developed to illustrate the concept. Actual design and mode changing experiment with a test mechanical module is also presented. Basic movement tests and a test of the basic properties of the rotational fingertip are also shown. The Basic configurations of wheel-leg retractable is considered well. The integrated mode is also described.
---
paper_title: Path finding for a NAO humanoid robot by fusing visual and proximity sensors

paper_content:

Humanoid robot path finding is one of the core-technologies in robot research domain. This paper presents an approach to finding a path for robot motion by fusing images taken by the NAO's camera and proximity information delivered by sonar sensors. The NAO robot takes an image around its surroundings, uses the fuzzy color extractor to segment its potential path colors, and selects a fitting line as path by the least squares method. Therefore, the NAO robot is able to perform the automatic navigation according to the selected path. As a result, the experiments are conducted to navigate the NAO robot to walk to a given destination and to grasp a box. In addition, the NAO robot uses its sonar sensors to detect a barrier and helps pick up the box with its hands.
---
paper_title: Mobile Wheel-Legged Robot: Researching of Suspension Leveling System

paper_content:

As part of this research a computational model of a wheel-legged robot wheel suspension was created and simulation studies of the dynamics of the suspension were carried out. The research focused on the development of a model of the robot’s suspension and control system maintaining the robot chassis at a constant elevation relative to the ground and on simulation studies aimed at determining the basic dynamic and kinematic properties.
---
paper_title: Analysis and modeling of slip for a five-wheeled mobile robot (WMR) in an uneven terrain

paper_content:

Effective traction and motion control of autonomous wheel mobile robots (WMR) require a precise knowledge of the relationship between three major classes of variables including those of: the vehicle (robot), the terrain and the interaction at the interface. This paper presents a model and analysis of the relationship between wheel slip (s) and rotation angle (θ). Unconstrained nonlinear optimization of slip with respect to rotation angle is performed in MATLAB using Newton-Raphson iterative method. We also propose a method of wheel slip estimation for a five wheeled mobile robot through comparing the odometric measurements of the powered wheels with that of a fifth non-powered wheel.
---
paper_title: Octopus - An Autonomous Wheeled Climbing Robot

paper_content:

This paper presents an innovative off-road wheeled mobile robot, named Octopus, able to deal autonomously with obstacles in rough terrain without getting stuck. To achieve such a performance, the robot is equipped with tilt sensors and tactile wheels. The sophisticated locomotion mechanism of Octopus has 8 motorized wheels and a total of 15 degrees of freedom (14 of them are motorized). A two-dimensional static model and a controller are proposed. The inputs of the controller are the contact points with ground, the geometric angles of the articulations, and the direction of the gravity field. The outputs of the controller are the torques for the wheels, the torques for the forearms, and the position set point for the body.
---
paper_title: Statically stable hexapod robot body construction

paper_content:

Legged locomotion is becoming more and more appealing to robotic engineers. Compared to wheeled and tracked vehicles walking robots are much more effective in overcoming irregular terrain and adapting to various environments. However, walking is considered a very complex task due to the kinematics and dynamics of walking patterns, energy consumption and the necessity to sustain static and dynamic stability all the time. In this paper we propose a hexapod robot body shape to achieve maximum static stability. First, hexapod robot development is discussed including leg design and body shape. Then, using mathematical modeling software a most suitable parameters for hexapod type body are obtained and final hexapod robot model is constructed.
---
paper_title: Vision-based manipulation with the humanoid robot Romeo

paper_content:

The aim of this paper is to show how visual servoing can help a humanoid robot to realize manipulation tasks with one and two hands, in conjunction with a gaze control. In addition, the use of vision in a closed-loop control scheme allows to accomplish these tasks with high repeatability without an accurate calibration of the robot kinematic model, the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of the camera. The first application shown is grasping: one arm is controlled in order to reach the desired pose for a successful grasp along with a gaze control that keeps hand and object in the camera field of view. This approach is extended to the grasping of cylindrical objects, ignoring in the control the orientation along the revolution axis, that could cause an unnecessary motion of the arm. Moreover, we show how to control both arms with a master/slave approach for a two-handed manipulation without any force control. The robot is then able to solve a ball-in-maze game in augmented reality manipulating a tray with two hands, just using vision. A secondary task to avoid the joint limits using a large projection operator is added to improve the reliability of the system. Finally, the framework is implemented and evaluated on the humanoid robot Romeo using the ViSP library. The source code of the libraries, demos and examples are completely accessible on GitHub, allowing an easy adaptation of the visual servoing framework to other robots.
---
paper_title: Designs and Prototypes of Mobile Robots

paper_content:

Interdisciplinary work for engineering developments of mobile robots, in both old and new applications. This book and its companion can be used as a graduate level course books or guide books for the practicing engineer who is working on a specific problem which is described in one of the chapters.
---
paper_title: Task-oriented planning algorithm for humanoid robots based on a foot repositionable inverse kinematics engine

paper_content:

Two major questions humanoid robots need to solve for manipulation tasks are whether they need to take steps and where to take steps to. In this paper, we introduce the formulation of a powerful inverse kinematics (IK) engine which can help to answer these questions. In the engine, the IK problem is formulated as an optimization problem. After configuring appropriate costs and constraints, the IK engine can compute a solution in which the robot is allowed to reposition its feet if necessary for meeting the task requirements. When the answers of these two questions are found, an integrated planning algorithm involving an IK solver, footstep planning and whole body manipulation motion planning is proposed. An object pickup scenario using the NASA-JSC Valkyrie robot is also provided in this paper to demonstrate the performance of the planning algorithm.
---
paper_title: Optimization based controller design and implementation for the Atlas robot in the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals

paper_content:

We describe the design and hardware implementation of our walking and manipulation controllers that are based on a cascade of online optimizations. A virtual force acting at the robot's center of mass (CoM) is estimated and used to compensated for modeling errors of the CoM and unplanned external forces. The proposed controllers have been implemented on the Atlas robot, a full size humanoid robot built by Boston Dynamics, and used in the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals, which consisted of a wide variety of locomotion and manipulation tasks.
---
paper_title: Mixed-initiative planning and execution for multiple drones in search and rescue missions

paper_content:

We present a mixed-initiative planning and execution system for human multi-drones interaction during search and rescue missions. The proposed system should allow a single operator to supervise and orchestrate the operations of a set of UAVs by means of a natural multimodal communication. In particular, we consider the task of searching for missing persons in a real-world alpine scenario. In this context, we assume that the human operator is an alpine rescuer, involved in the scene and co-located with the drones, hence not fully dedicated to the robotic platforms, but only able to provide sparse and sketchy interventions. This scenario requires a framework that supports adjustable autonomy, from explicit teleoperation to a complete autonomy, and an effective and natural mixed-initiative interaction between the human and the robotic team. In this paper, we illustrate the domain and the overall framework discussing the system at work in a simulated case study.
---
paper_title: FED-the free body diagram method. Kinematic and dynamic modeling of a six leg robot

paper_content:

The free body diagram method, based on the dynamic equations of isolated rigid bodies, is used to overcome the difficulties in dynamic modeling of legged robots. The article presents a simulator for a six leg machine. Both kinematic and dynamic models are developed. Kinematic equations are derived with the Denavit-Hartenberg method. The free body diagram method is used to obtain the dynamic model. Some results of simulation are presented.
---
paper_title: Shrimp, a Rover Architecture for Long Range Martian Mission

paper_content:

Reference LSA-CONF-2000-013 Conference Web Site: http://www.estec.esa.nl/conferences/astra2000/ Record created on 2006-12-07, modified on 2016-08-08
---
paper_title: Control Law for Rough Terrain Robot with Leg-type Crawler

paper_content:

The purpose of this study is to develop a new mobile system using "Leg-type crawler" mechanism. Our proposed "Leg-type crawler" mechanism is a combination of crawler mechanism and walking mechanism. It has two links with crawler tracks and two rotational joints. The leg-type crawler is a unit which includes mechanisms and controller. The number of motors in leg-type crawler unit is 4. And this system has 4 leg-type crawler units. Thus the total number of motors is 16 in this system. Since this mobile system has high redundancy, it can take several moving modes. By combining such moving modes, it can move in almost all kinds of rough environments. To let the robot follow specified trajectory, we adopt a force distribution law to this system. The force distribution law is to allot the necessary force for main body movement to each leg-type crawler unit. In addition, we have to take into account the limitation of output forces of each unit. In this paper, we propose a control law with force saturation after showing the outline of the robot. We also verify this law by several experiments and simulations.
---
paper_title: Balancing Control of Unicycle Robot

paper_content:

This paper proposes controlling balance of unicycle robot by using PID control. The robot consists of the Pitch and Roll. And the robot measures the Pitch and Roll angle which are obtained from IMU sensor. In this paper, Assuming that the Pitch and Roll is decoupled, design the controller separately. Because controller’s performance is confirmed from simulation, the dynamic equations of the robot are derived for simulation. Finally, designed controller is applied to have a test of the unicycle robot.
---
paper_title: Evolutionary motion design for humanoid robots

paper_content:

We propose a new approach to generating the motion of humanoid robots intuitively by means of Interactive Evolutionary Computation (IEC). In our system, novice users are able to design effective motions through the subjective evaluation of displayed individuals, even if they do not have any technical knowledge. The motions evolved by the IEC system are not necessarily stable nor feasible in real environments. Thus, appropriate adjustments are required to revise the motions. For this purpose, we use a real-valued GA in a dynamic simulator. We empirically show the effectiveness of our approach by designing a kick motion for a humanoid robot.
---
paper_title: Manipulation planning for the Atlas humanoid robot

paper_content:

Kinematic planning for performing manipulation tasks with an Atlas humanoid robot is presented. A hybrid analytic/numerical inverse kinematics approach is described, yielding fast solutions. The solution technique supports extensive exploration of manipulation strategies. Task-specific optimization metrics are introduced, leading to manipulation plans for three tasks: acquiring a horizontal cylinder, turning a valve, and turning a door handle.
---
paper_title: Quadruped walking robots at Tokyo Institute of Technology

paper_content:

In this article, the design principle of the leg driving mechanism to minimize energy loss and maximize output power is discussed. We will also introduce the gait control methods implemented in our previous quadruped walking robots. Finally, we will survey most of the prototype models of our quadruped walking robots.
---
paper_title: NanoKhod Exploration Rover - A Rugged Rover Suited for Small, Low-Cost, Planetary Lander Mission

paper_content:

The European Space Agency (ESA) is currently concluding a dedicated technology development to mature and finalize the Nanokhod microrover into a complete engineering model with integrated geochemical payload package. The goal of this development is to build and test the Nanokhod such that it can serve a wide range of mission applications in the future. The rover will be able to deliver scientific payloads to not only atmospheric planets such as Mars but also environmentally more extreme nonatmospheric celestial bodies such as Mercury or the Moon. The Nanokhod rover is a payload-efficient system that can be used to send a maximum amount of scientific payload to a planetary surface with the minimum rover mass. The high payload to total mass ratio of about 0.27 can enable low-cost planetary surface exploration missions where total available mass and power is extremely restricted.
---
paper_title: Hexapod robot gait stability investigation

paper_content:

Environmental adaptability, terrain locomotion is what makes walking robots so appealing. Due to a high number of degrees of freedom walking machines tend to be more useful in dangerous or impassible environments. Multi-legged robots have better stability while walking because there are always at least three legs supporting the robot. But having six or more legs also means that choosing or developing most suitable walking patterns is very challenging. In this paper we present a stability investigation of different hexapod robot gaits. Stability of gaits is measured by body tilt during movement. Three different gaits are used: tripod gait, wave gait, and ripple gait. Comparison of each gaits stability with various leg transfer sequences is given. Results show that the most stable gait is wave with the basic leg transfer sequence.
---
paper_title: A new redundancy resolution for underwater vehicle–manipulator system considering payload

paper_content:

For the motion coordination problem between the underwater vehicle and manipulator of the underwater vehicle–manipulator system, a new redundancy resolution method is proposed and investigated. The...
---
paper_title: Shrimp, a Rover Architecture for Long Range Martian Mission

paper_content:

Reference LSA-CONF-2000-013 Conference Web Site: http://www.estec.esa.nl/conferences/astra2000/ Record created on 2006-12-07, modified on 2016-08-08
---
paper_title: A snake-like swimming robot using IPMC actuator/sensor

paper_content:

We constructed a snake-like swimming robot using IPMC actuator, and verified swimming motion based on numerical simulation and experiments. In applying periodic inputs with appropriate frequency and phase shift, the snake-like robot is capable of smooth propulsion. It is known that IPMC has a sensor function that IPMC films generate electromotive voltage when bending or being deformed. By using the sensor function into the snake-like robot, it is considered that autonomous propulsive motion can be realized by feedback of the sensor signal. In this paper, we consider the autonomous locomotion of the snakelike swimming robot with IPMC actuator/sensor, and verify the realization of swimming motion by feedback of the sensor signal. Furthermore, the efficiency of the autonomous locomotion is investigated
---
paper_title: Worm-like locomotion systems: development of drives and selective anisotropic friction structures

paper_content:

This paper is about the analysis, classification and valuation as well as the synthesis, development and construction of non-pedal, undulatory, peristaltic locomotion systems. An extensive literature research shows a broad spectrum of prototypes. Based on a functional structure of an earthworm segment these existing locomotion systems are analyzed with focus on the conversion of functional and structural relations of the earthworm (biological paradigm). The earthworm is able to affect the resistance against movement of each segment. In this paper we focus on the manipulation of the resistance against movement by bristles of adjustable pitch angle. Several principles to adjust the pitch angle of the bristles being in contact with the ground are developed accordingly to the constructive process of development. The developed principles belong to defined main groups. Finally a particular worm like locomotion system is introduced. The unusual feature of this new system is the realization of all sub-functions, i.e., the periodic drive and the alignment of the bristles, with only one central drive.
---
paper_title: Object recognition from local scale-invariant features

paper_content:

An object recognition system has been developed that uses a new class of local image features. The features are invariant to image scaling, translation, and rotation, and partially invariant to illumination changes and affine or 3D projection. These features share similar properties with neurons in inferior temporal cortex that are used for object recognition in primate vision. Features are efficiently detected through a staged filtering approach that identifies stable points in scale space. Image keys are created that allow for local geometric deformations by representing blurred image gradients in multiple orientation planes and at multiple scales. The keys are used as input to a nearest neighbor indexing method that identifies candidate object matches. Final verification of each match is achieved by finding a low residual least squares solution for the unknown model parameters. Experimental results show that robust object recognition can be achieved in cluttered partially occluded images with a computation time of under 2 seconds.
---
paper_title: Semantic Mapping Using Mobile Robots

paper_content:

Robotic mapping is the process of automatically constructing an environment representation using mobile robots. We address the problem of semantic mapping, which consists of using mobile robots to create maps that represent not only metric occupancy but also other properties of the environment. Specifically, we develop techniques to build maps that represent activity and navigability of the environment. Our approach to semantic mapping is to combine machine learning techniques with standard mapping algorithms. Supervised learning methods are used to automatically associate properties of space to the desired classification patterns. We present two methods, the first based on hidden Markov models and the second on support vector machines. Both approaches have been tested and experimentally validated in two problem domains: terrain mapping and activity-based mapping.
---
paper_title: An efficient object recognition and self-localization system for humanoid soccer robot

paper_content:

In the RoboCup soccer humanoid league competition, the vision system is used to collect various environment information as the terminal data to finish the functions of object recognition, coordinate establishment, robot localization, robot tactic, barrier avoiding, etc. Thus, a real-time object recognition and high accurate self-localization system of the soccer robot becomes the key technology to improve the performance. In this work we proposed an efficient object recognition and self-localization system for the RoboCup soccer humanoid league rules of the 2009 competition. We proposed two methods : 1) In the object recognition part, the real-time vision-based method is based on the adaptive resolution method (ARM). It can select the most proper resolution for different situations in the competition. ARM can reduce the noises interference and make the object recognition system more robust as well. 2) In the self-localization part, we proposed a new approach, adaptive vision-based self-localization system (AVBSLS), which uses the trigonometric function to find the coarse location of the robot and further adopts the measuring artificial neural network technique to adjust the humanoid robot position adaptively. The experimental results indicate that the proposed system is not easily affected by the light illumination. The object recognition accuracy rate is more than 93% on average and the average frame rate can reach 32 fps (frame per second). It does not only maintain the higher recognition accuracy rate for the high resolution frames, but also increase the average frame rate for about 11 fps compared to the conventional high resolution approach and the average accuracy ratio of the localization is 92.3%.
---
paper_title: Object recognition and detection by shape and color pattern recognition utilizing Artificial Neural Networks

paper_content:

A robust and accurate object recognition tool is presented in this paper. The paper introduced the use of Artificial Neural Networks in evaluating a frame shot of the target image. The system utilizes three major steps in object recognition, namely image processing, ANN processing and interpretation. In image processing stage a frame shot or an image go through a process of extracting numerical values of object's shape and object's color. These values are then fed to the Artificial Neural Network stage, wherein the recognition of the object is done. Since the output of the ANN stage is in numerical form the third process is indispensable for human understanding. This stage simply converts a given value to its equivalent linguistic term. All three components are integrated in an interface for ease of use. Upon the conclusion of the system's development, experimentation and testing procedures are initiated. The study proved that the optimum lighting condition opted for the system is at 674 lumens with an accuracy of 99.99996072%. Another finding that the paper presented is that the optimum distance for recognition is at 40cm with an accuracy of 99.99996072%. Lastly the system contains a very high tolerance in the variations in the objects position or orientation, with the optimum accuracy at upward position with 99.99940181% accuracy rate.
---
paper_title: Lyapunov-Based Control of Robotic Systems

paper_content:

Introduction History of Robotics Lyapunov-Based Control Philosophy The Real-Time Computer Revolution Robot Control Introduction Modeling and Control Objective Computed Torque Control Approaches Adaptive Control Design Task-Space Control and Redundancy Vision-Based Systems Introduction Monocular Image-Based Geometry Visual Servo Tracking Continuum Robots Mobile Robot Regulation and Tracking Structure from Motion Path Planning and Control Introduction Velocity Field and Navigation Function Control for Manipulators Velocity Field and Navigation Function Control for WMRs Vision Navigation Optimal Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance Human Machine Interaction Introduction Exercise Machine Steer-by-Wire Robot Teleoperation Rehabilitation Robot Appendix A: Mathematical Background Appendix B: Supplementary Lemmas and Expressions Index References appear at the end of each chapter.
---
paper_title: Fast local obstacle avoidance under kinematic and dynamic constraints for a mobile robot

paper_content:

This paper presents an efficient approach for reactive collision avoidance taking into account both vehicle dynamics and nonholonomic constraints of a mobile robot. Motion commands are generated by searching the space of actuating variables. Vehicle dynamics are considered by restricting the search space to values which are reachable within the next time step. The final selection among admissible configurations is done by an objective function which trades off speed, goal-directedness and remaining distance until an obstacle is hit when moving along the chosen path. The presented approach differs from previous ones in the selective use of precalculated lookup tables. These are the key to efficiency, and they especially allow the use of any-shaped robot contours. Furthermore, obstacle information from different sources can easily be considered without preprocessing. Extensive experiments on different robots have shown robust operation in dynamic and unprepared indoor environments with speed up to 1 m/s.
---
paper_title: Vision for Mobile Robot Navigation: A Survey

paper_content:

Surveys the developments of the last 20 years in the area of vision for mobile robot navigation. Two major components of the paper deal with indoor navigation and outdoor navigation. For each component, we have further subdivided our treatment of the subject on the basis of structured and unstructured environments. For indoor robots in structured environments, we have dealt separately with the cases of geometrical and topological models of space. For unstructured environments, we have discussed the cases of navigation using optical flows, using methods from the appearance-based paradigm, and by recognition of specific objects in the environment.
---
paper_title: Vision-Based Navigation by a Mobile Robot with Obstacle Avoidance using Single-Camera Vision and Ultrasonic Sensing

paper_content:

This paper describes a vision-based navigation method in an indoor environment for an autonomous mobile robot which can avoid obstacles. In this method, the self-localization of the robot is achieved by a model-based vision system, and nonstop navigation is realized by a retroactive position correction system. Stationary obstacles are avoided with single-camera vision and moving obstacles are detected with ultrasonic sensors. We report on experiments in a hallway using the YAMABICO robot.
---
paper_title: THE VECTOR FIELD HISTOGRAM-FAST OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE FOR MOBILE ROBOTS

paper_content:

A real-time obstacle avoidance method for mobile robots which has been developed and implemented is described. This method, named the vector field histogram (VFH), permits the detection of unknown obstacles and avoids collisions while simultaneously steering the mobile robot toward the target. The VFH method uses a two-dimensional Cartesian histogram grid as a world model. This world model is updated continuously with range data sampled by onboard range sensors. The VFH method subsequently uses a two-stage data-reduction process to compute the desired control commands for the vehicle. Experimental results from a mobile robot traversing densely cluttered obstacle courses in smooth and continuous motion and at an average speed of 0.6-0.7 m/s are shown. A comparison of the VFN method to earlier methods is given. >
---
paper_title: Interleaving Planning and Execution for Autonomous Robots

paper_content:

From the Publisher: ::: Interleaving Planning and Execution for Autonomous Robots develops a formal representation for interleaving planning and execution in the context of incomplete information. This work bridges the gap between theory and practice in robotics by presenting control architectures that are able to be proven sound, complete and optimal, and then describing real-world implementations of these robot architectures. Dervish, winner of the 1994 AAAI National Robot Contest, is one of the robots featured.
---
paper_title: Robot Motion Planning

paper_content:

1 Introduction and Overview.- 2 Configuration Space of a Rigid Object.- 3 Obstacles in Configuration Space.- 4 Roadmap Methods.- 5 Exact Cell Decomposition.- 6 Approximate Cell Decomposition.- 7 Potential Field Methods.- 8 Multiple Moving Objects.- 9 Kinematic Constraints.- 10 Dealing with Uncertainty.- 11 Movable Objects.- Prospects.- Appendix A Basic Mathematics.- Appendix B Computational Complexity.- Appendix C Graph Searching.- Appendix D Sweep-Line Algorithm.- References.
---
paper_title: Position estimation for a mobile robot using vision and odometry

paper_content:

The authors describe a method for locating a mobile robot moving in a known environment. This technique combines position estimation from odometry with observations of the environment from a mobile camera. Fixed objects in the world provide landmarks which are listed in a database. The system calculates the angle to each landmark and then orients the camera. An extended Kalman filter is used to correct the error between the observed and estimated angle to each landmark. Results from experiments in a real environment are presented. >
---
paper_title: Mobile robot localization using landmarks

paper_content:

We describe an efficient algorithm for localizing a mobile robot in an environment with landmarks. We assume that the robot has a camera and maybe other sensors that enable it to both identify landmarks and measure the angles subtended by these landmarks. We show how to estimate the robot's position using a new technique that involves a complex number representation of the landmarks. Our algorithm runs in time linear in the number of landmarks. We present results of our simulations and propose how to use our method for robot navigation. >
---
paper_title: Navigating Mobile Robots: Systems and Techniques

paper_content:

This is a survey of the state-of-the-art in sensors, systems, methods and technologies utilized by a mobile robot to determine its position in the environment. The many potential "solutions" are roughly categorized into two groups: relative and absolute position measurements. The first includes odometry and inertial navigation; the second comprises active beacons, artificial and natural landmark recognition and model matching. The authors compare and analyze these different methods based on technical publications and on commercial product and patent information. Comparison is centred around the following criteria: accuracy of position and orientation measurements; equipment needed; cost; sampling rate; effective range; computational power required; processing needs; and other special features.
---
paper_title: Accurate odometry and error modelling for a mobile robot

paper_content:

This paper presents the key steps involved in the design, calibration and error modelling of a low cost odometry system capable of achieving high accuracy dead-reckoning. A consistent error model for estimating position and orientation errors has been developed. Previous work on propagating odometry error covariance relies on incrementally updating the covariance matrix in small time steps. The approach taken here sums the noise theoretically over the entire path length to produce simple closed form expressions, allowing efficient covariance matrix updating after the completion of path segments. Systematic errors due to wheel radius and wheel base measurement were first calibrated with UMBmark test. Experimental results show that, despite its low cost, our system's performance, with regard to dead-reckoning accuracy, is comparable to some of the best reported odometry vehicle.
---
paper_title: Mobile robot positioning: Sensors and techniques

paper_content:

Abstract : Exact knowledge of the position of a vehicle is a fundamental problem in mobile robot applications. In the search for a solution, researchers and engineers have developed a variety of systems, sensors, and techniques for mobile robot positioning. This paper provides a review of relevant mobile robot positioning technologies. The paper defines seven categories for positioning systems: (1) Odometry, (2) Inertial Navigation, (3) Magnetic Compasses, (4) Active Beacons, (5) Global Positioning Systems, (6) Landmark Navigation, and (7) Model Matching. The characteristics of each category are discussed and examples of existing technologies are given for each category. The field of mobile robot navigation is active and vibrant, with more great systems and ideas being developed continuously. For this reason the examples presented in this paper serve only to represent their respective categories; they do not represent a judgment by the authors. Many ingenious approaches can be found in the literature, although, for reasons of brevity, not all could be cited in this paper. The appendix contains a tabular comparison of the positioning systems discussed in this review that includes system and description, features, accuracy (position), accuracy (orientation), effective range, and source of information. (47 refs.)
---
paper_title: Lyapunov-Based Control of Robotic Systems

paper_content:

Introduction History of Robotics Lyapunov-Based Control Philosophy The Real-Time Computer Revolution Robot Control Introduction Modeling and Control Objective Computed Torque Control Approaches Adaptive Control Design Task-Space Control and Redundancy Vision-Based Systems Introduction Monocular Image-Based Geometry Visual Servo Tracking Continuum Robots Mobile Robot Regulation and Tracking Structure from Motion Path Planning and Control Introduction Velocity Field and Navigation Function Control for Manipulators Velocity Field and Navigation Function Control for WMRs Vision Navigation Optimal Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance Human Machine Interaction Introduction Exercise Machine Steer-by-Wire Robot Teleoperation Rehabilitation Robot Appendix A: Mathematical Background Appendix B: Supplementary Lemmas and Expressions Index References appear at the end of each chapter.
---
paper_title: Mobile Robot Localization and Map Building: A Multisensor Fusion Approach

paper_content:

From the Publisher: ::: During the last decade, many researchers have dedicated their efforts to constructing revolutionary machines and to providing them with forms of artificial intelligence to perform some of the most hazardous, risky or monotonous tasks historically assigned to human beings. Among those machines, mobile robots are undoubtedly at the cutting edge of current research directions. A rough classification of mobile robots can be considered: on the one hand, mobile robots oriented to human-made indoor environments; on the other hand, mobile robots oriented to unstructured outdoor environments, which could include flying oriented robots, space-oriented robots and underwater robots. The most common motion mechanism for surface mobile robots is the wheel-based mechanism, adapted both to flat surfaces, found in human-made environments, and to rough terrain, found in outdoor environments. However, some researchers have reported successful developments with leg-based mobile robots capable of climbing up stairs, although they require further investigation. The research work presented here focuses on wheel-based mobile robots that navigate in human-made indoor environments. ::: The main problems described throughout this book are: ::: ::: Representation and integration of uncertain geometric information by means of the Symmetries and Perturbations Model (SPmodel). This model combines the use of probability theory to represent the imprecision in the location of a geometric element, and the theory of symmetries to represent the partiality due to characteristics of each type of geometric element. ::: A solution to the first location problem, that is, the computation of an estimation for themobile robot location when the vehicle is completely lost in the environment. The problem is formulated as a search in an interpretation tree using efficient matching algorithms and geometric constraints to reduce the size of the solution space. ::: The book proposes a new probabilistic framework adapted to the problem of simultaneous localization and map building for mobile robots: the Symmetries and Perturbations Map (SPmap). This framework has been experimentally validated by a complete experiment which profited from ground-truth to accurately validate the precision and the appropriateness of the approach. ::: ::: The book emphasizes the generality of the solutions proposed to the different problems and their independence with respect to the exteroceptive sensors mounted on the mobile robot. Theoretical results are complemented by real experiments, where the use of multisensor-based approaches is highlighted.
---
paper_title: Landmark-Based Robot Navigation

paper_content:

To operate in the real world robots must deal with errors in control and sensing. Achieving goals despite these errors requires complex motion planning and plan monitoring. We present a reduced version of the general problem and a complete planner that solves it in polynomial time. The basic concept underlying this planner is that of a landmark. Within the field of influence of a landmark, robot control and sensing are perfect. Outside any such field control is imperfect and sensing is null. In order to make sure that the above assumptions hold, we may have to specifically engineer the robot workspace. Thus, for the first time, workspace engineering is seen as a means to make planning problems tractable. The planner was implemented and experimental results are presented. An interesting feature of the planner is that it always returns a universal plan in the form of a collection of reaction rules. This plan can be used even when the input problem has no guaranteed solution, or when unexpected events oceur during plan execution.
---
paper_title: High resolution maps from wide angle sonar

paper_content:

We describe the use of multiple wide-angle sonar range measurements to map the surroundings of an autonomous mobile robot. A sonar range reading provides information concerning empty and occupied volumes in a cone (subtending 30 degrees in our case) in front of the sensor. The reading is modelled as probability profiles projected onto a rasterized map, where somewhere occupied and everywhere empty areas are represented. Range measurements from multiple points of view (taken from multiple sensors on the robot, and from the same sensors after robot moves) are systematically integrated in the map. Overlapping empty volumes re-inforce each other, and serve to condense the range of occupied volumes. The map definition improves as more readings are added. The final map shows regions probably occupied, probably unoccupied, and unknown areas. The method deals effectively with clutter, and can be used for motion planning and for extended landmark recognition. This system has been tested on the Neptune mobile robot at CMU.
---
paper_title: Interleaving Planning and Execution for Autonomous Robots

paper_content:

From the Publisher: ::: Interleaving Planning and Execution for Autonomous Robots develops a formal representation for interleaving planning and execution in the context of incomplete information. This work bridges the gap between theory and practice in robotics by presenting control architectures that are able to be proven sound, complete and optimal, and then describing real-world implementations of these robot architectures. Dervish, winner of the 1994 AAAI National Robot Contest, is one of the robots featured.
---
paper_title: A global topological map formed by local metric maps

paper_content:

We describe a method of mapping large scale static environments using a hybrid topological-metric model. A global map is formed from a set of local maps organized in a topological structure. Each local map contains quantitative environment information using a local reference frame. They are denoted as islands of reliability because they provide accurate metric information of the environment. The mapping problem then becomes where to place the islands of reliability and to what extent should they cover the environment. This is accomplished by defining the placement criteria in terms of the task the islands of reliability portray.
---
paper_title: Motion Planning for Humanoid Robots

paper_content:

Humanoid robotics hardware and control techniques have advanced rapidly during the last five years. Presently, several companies have announced the commercial availability of various humanoid robot prototypes. In order to improve the autonomy and overall functionality of these robots, reliable sensors, safety mechanisms, and general integrated software tools and techniques are needed. We believe that the development of practical motion planning algorithms and obstacle avoidance software for humanoid robots represents an important enabling technology. This paper gives an overview of some of our recent efforts to develop motion planning methods for humanoid robots for application tasks involving navigation, object grasping and manipulation, footstep placement, and dynamically-stable full-body motions. We show experimental results obtained by implementations running within a simulation environment as well as on actual humanoid robot hardware.
---
paper_title: Path Planning for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

paper_content:

Efficient path-planning algorithms are a crucial issue for modern autonomous underwater vehicles. Classical path-planning algorithms in artificial intelligence are not designed to deal with wide continuous environments prone to currents. We present a novel Fast Marching (FM)-based approach to address the following issues. First, we develop an algorithm we call FM* to efficiently extract a 2-D continuous path from a discrete representation of the environment. Second, we take underwater currents into account thanks to an anisotropic extension of the original FM algorithm. Third, the vehicle turning radius is introduced as a constraint on the optimal path curvature for both isotropic and anisotropic media. Finally, a multiresolution method is introduced to speed up the overall path-planning process
---
paper_title: A Formal Basis for the Heuristic Determination of Minimum Cost Paths

paper_content:

Although the problem of determining the minimum cost path through a graph arises naturally in a number of interesting applications, there has been no underlying theory to guide the development of efficient search procedures. Moreover, there is no adequate conceptual framework within which the various ad hoc search strategies proposed to date can be compared. This paper describes how heuristic information from the problem domain can be incorporated into a formal mathematical theory of graph searching and demonstrates an optimality property of a class of search strategies.
---
paper_title: Trajectory planning and trajectory tracking of a submarine robot based on minimization of detection capability

paper_content:

Nowadays, optimal trajectory planning and trajectory tracking have become the main subject of numerous research projects, and have a wide range of applicability in planning missions for a lot of marine vehicle, such as unmanned submarines, buoyant vehicles, ships, landing crafts, etc. This paper investigates the problem of path planning of a submarine, with simultaneous utilization of the direct collocation method and Pontryagin's Minimum Principle, intending to minimize its detection probability. Moreover, tracking of the path obtained from the direct collocation method is provided through model predictive control, with the two-dimensional motion relations of the submarine as predicting model comparison of the results obtained from implementing these two methods reveals that the cost associated with the direct collocation method almost closely matches the one corresponding to the indirect method. There is a negligible difference between the costs which, in fact, is due to the utilization of a numerical solution procedure in the former and an analytical one in the latter. Nevertheless, when it comes to the duration of solution iterations, the collocation method is faster, and as a result, despite the other approach, practicable enough to be able to solve complex problems. Furthermore, the results confirm the capability of the model predictive control for real-time path tracking.
---
paper_title: Collision Detection and Avoidance in Computer Controlled Manipulators

paper_content:

This dissertation tackles the problem of planning safe trajectories for computer controlled manipulators with two links and multiple degrees of freedom. There are two ways to look at safe trajectory planning. The first concerns itself with planning trajectories in empty space; obstacles enter into consideration only indirectly in that they determine what part of the maneuverable space is free. The second considers obstacles alone; free space considerations are of secondary importance. We show how these complementary views can be used to advantage in the safe trajectory planning problem. Obstacles are naturally described in cartesian space and trajectories in joint space. If obstacles and trajectories are both represented in one space, collision checks would not require the constant and expensive conversion between the two spaces. We show how it is possible to decompose the planning task so as to get the best of both cartesian space and joint space representations, and yet avoid the constant conversion overhead problem. We show how the principles of hierarchical decomposition can be used to reduce the complexity of the manipulator trajectory planning problem. Different strategies are used for maneuvering far away from obstacles and for maneuvering close to obstacles. A characterization of large chunks of empty space makes maneuvering far away from obstacles very easy. A characterization of obstacle configuration types simplifies planning of maneuvers close to obstacles. The key ideas in the representation that make it possible to realize the above claims are: 1) the identification of a hierarchy of abstraction spaces that permit simplified manipulator descriptions. These spaces make it possible to model the manipulator as two line segments, a single line segment, or incredibly as a point. 2) the identification of primitive trajectory types that make collision detection, trajectory hypothesis and modification numerically tractable. 3) the polyhedra-model of obstacles and the identification of one-time-only transformations on obstacles that significantly simplify trajectory planning. 4) a neat characterization of empty space. Empty space is approximated by easily describable entities called charts; the approximation is dynamic and under program control; the approximation can be selective, and thus it is easy to make incremental modifications to the charts. The thesis describes a model for collision detection and avoidance systems for computer controlled manipulators. The justification for the model lies in the computer implementations for 2D and 3D manipulator systems. These systems incorporate a significant portion of the model. The promising performance of the implementation makes fast collision avoiders a distinct possibility. The solution presented treats manipulators with a sliding joint, and permits the manipulator to transport objects which can be enclosed within the minimum bounding cylinder of the manipulator link. Modifications of the solution that permit handling of large objects are indicated. An extension of the solution that solves the problem for manipulators with only rotary joints is described. A consequence of the investigations into the collision detection and avoidance problem has been the identification of execution-time strategies for terminal phase motion. Guidelines have been presented for incorporating proximity sensors into the manipulator system.
---
paper_title: Optimal path planning of mobile robots: A review

paper_content:

Mobile robots are increasingly used in automated industrial environments. There are also other applications like planet exploration, surveillance, landmine detection, etc. In all these applications, in order that the mobile robots perform their tasks, collision-free path planning is a prerequisite. This article provides an overview of the research progress in path planning of a mobile robot for off-line as well as on-line environments. Commonly used classic and evolutionary approaches of path planning of mobile robots have been addressed. Review shows that evolutionary optimization algorithms are computationally efficient and hence are increasingly being used in tandem with classic approaches while handling Non-deterministic Polynomial time hard (NP-hard) problems. Also, challenges involved in developing a computationally efficient path planning algorithm are addressed.
---
paper_title: Path planning for a quadruped robot: an artificial field approach

paper_content:

In this paper, we consider the problem of planning a feasible path for a quadruped walking robot in an environment of obstacles. In conventional path-planning problems, the main focus is merely collision avoidance with obstacles since a wheeled robot is involved. However, in the case of a legged robot, both collision avoidance and crossing over obstacles must be taken into account in the process of path planning. Furthermore, the constraints of the gait should be considered to guarantee the feasibility of a planned path. To resolve this complicated problem in a systematic way, a new concept of an artificial thermal field is proposed. Specifically, with the assumption that a robot walks with a periodic crab gait, a robot and obstacles in a three-dimensional (3D) space are projected on a 2D plane. Next, the 2D obstacles are transformed into the configuration space of a quadruped robot. A feasible path is finally sought in an artificial thermal field which is constructed numerically on the discretized config...
---
paper_title: Drone Formation Control System Real-Time Path Planning

paper_content:

This study focuses on the implementation and demonstration of the Real Time Path Planner (RTPP). It is an AI guidance system that was developed for an operational DoD unmanned aerial target control system. The RTPP is tested using the 6-DOF target simulator of Drone Formation Control System (DFCS). The RTPP uses the A* algorithm to generate the obstacle free routes. The data used for the A* graph, which rep resents the terrain map, was obtained from the National Elevation Dataset. UAV flight trajectories developed b y this system undergo testing in a DoD flight simulator. A n MQM-107D simulated drone is used for the testing. The partition size of the terrain map is varied within the study to obtain an optimal partition size. Thes e tests analyze the flight trajectories produced by the RTP P, and the effect of varying the A* and the UAV parameters. This study demonstrates that the RTPP produces safe and maneuverable routes for the MQM107D. Results are confirmed by time plots of key fl ight parameters recorded during the 6-DOF UAV simulation runs. The time plots show that the targe t did not have any difficulty flying the computer-g enerated pattern. It also shows that the target flew over be nign terrain as predicted by the RTPP to reach its destination. This study demonstrates the innovative benefits and functionality added by Intelligent Sy stems theory to the real-time path planning and navigatio n task via the DFCS system. The RTPP works as designed, producing safe and flyable flight pattern s for the drone.
---
paper_title: Motion Planning for Humanoid Robots

paper_content:

Humanoid robotics hardware and control techniques have advanced rapidly during the last five years. Presently, several companies have announced the commercial availability of various humanoid robot prototypes. In order to improve the autonomy and overall functionality of these robots, reliable sensors, safety mechanisms, and general integrated software tools and techniques are needed. We believe that the development of practical motion planning algorithms and obstacle avoidance software for humanoid robots represents an important enabling technology. This paper gives an overview of some of our recent efforts to develop motion planning methods for humanoid robots for application tasks involving navigation, object grasping and manipulation, footstep placement, and dynamically-stable full-body motions. We show experimental results obtained by implementations running within a simulation environment as well as on actual humanoid robot hardware.
---
paper_title: Optimal and Efficient Path Planning for Unknown and Dynamic Environments

paper_content:

Abstract : The task of planning trajectories for a mobile robot has received considerable attention in the research literature. Algorithms exist for handling a variety of robot shapes, configurations, motion constraints, and environments. Most of the work assumes the robot has a complete and accurate model of its environment before it begins to move; less attention has been paid to the problem of unknown or partially-known environments. This situation occurs for an exploratory robot or one that must move to a goal location without the benefit of a floorplan (indoor) or terrain map (outdoor). Existing approaches plan an initial global path or route based on known information and then modify the plan locally as the robot discovers obstacles with its sensors. While this strategy works well in environments with small, sparse obstacles, it can lead to grossly suboptimal and incomplete results in cluttered spaces. An alternative approach is to replan the global path from scratch each time a new obstacle is discovered.
---
paper_title: Smooth and time-optimal trajectory planning for industrial manipulators along specified paths

paper_content:

This article presents a method for determining smooth and time-optimal path constrained trajectories for robotic manipulators and investigates the performance of these trajectories both through simulations and experiments. The desired smoothness of the trajectory is imposed through limits on the torque rates. The third derivative of the path parameter with respect to time, the pseudo-jerk, is the controlled input. The limits on the actuator torques translate into state-dependent limits on the pseudo-acceleration. The time-optimal control objective is cast as an optimization problem by using cubic splines to parametrize the state space trajectory. The optimization problem is solved using the flexible tolerance method. The experimental results presented show that the planned smooth trajectories provide superior feasible time-optimal motion. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
---
paper_title: Dynamic robot path planning using an enhanced simulated annealing approach

paper_content:

Evolutionary computation is an effective tool for solving optimization problems. However, its significant computational demand has limited its real-time and on-line applications, especially in embedded systems with limited computing resources, e.g., mobile robots. Heuristic methods such as the genetic algorithm (GA) based approaches have been investigated for robot path planning in dynamic environments. However, research on the simulated annealing (SA) algorithm, another popular evolutionary computation algorithm, for dynamic path planning is still limited mainly due to its high computational demand. An enhanced SA approach, which integrates two additional mathematical operators and initial path selection heuristics into the standard SA, is developed in this work for robot path planning in dynamic environments with both static and dynamic obstacles. It improves the computing performance of the standard SA significantly while giving an optimal or near-optimal robot path solution, making its real-time and on-line applications possible. Using the classic and deterministic Dijkstra algorithm as a benchmark, comprehensive case studies are carried out to demonstrate the performance of the enhanced SA and other SA algorithms in various dynamic path planning scenarios.
---
paper_title: Dynamic Path Planning for Mobile Robot Based on Improved Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm

paper_content:

The dynamic path planning for mobile robot based on improved ant colony optimization algorithm is presented.Firstly,to increase the convergence speed,the heuristic function modified adaptively according to the target point is proposed.To avoid the local optimum,the rule updating the pheromone based on the assignment rule of wolf colony is proposed.Secondly,to optimize the performance of the improved ant colony,the important parameters of the improved ant colony optimization algorithm are optimized by the particle swarm optimization.Finally,the dynamic path planning for mobile robot based on improved ant colony optimization algorithm is implemented and the simulation experiments are finished.From the results,it can see that the dynamic path planning method is viable and efficient.
---
paper_title: Planning Biped Navigation Strategies in Complex Environments

paper_content:

We present an algorithm for planning goal-directed footstep navigation strategies for biped robots through obstacle-filled environ- ments and uneven ground. Planning footsteps is more general than most existing navigation methods designed for wheeled robots, since the op- tions of stepping over or upon obstacles are available. Given a height map of the terrain and a discrete set of possible footstep motions, the planner uses an A* search to generate a sequence of footstep locations to reach a given goal state. The planner evaluates footstep locations for viability using a collection of heuristic metrics designed to encode the relative safety, effort required, and overall motion complexity. We show preliminary results of the planner over several simulated terrains, as well as a simplified, online version of the algorithm running on the H7 hu- manoid robot. In the latter case, a stereo vision system is used to sense obstacles in the immediate environment and identify a target goal loca- tion, which is used to update the current optimal footstep sequence to the goal from the robot's present location.
---
paper_title: Randomized Kinodynamic Motion Planning with Moving Obstacles

paper_content:

This paper presents a novel randomized motion planner for robots that must achieve a specified goal under kinematic and/or dynamic motion constraints while avoiding collision with moving obstacles with known trajectories. The planner encodes the motion constraints on the robot with a control system and samples the robot's state × time space by picking control inputs at random and integrating its equations of motion. The result is a probabilistic roadmap of sampled state ×time points, called milestones, connected by short admissible trajectories. The planner does not precompute the roadmap; instead, for each planning query, it generates a new roadmap to connect an initial and a goal state×time point. The paper presents a detailed analysis of the planner's convergence rate. It shows that, if the state×time space satisfies a geometric property called expansiveness, then a slightly idealized version of our implemented planner is guaranteed to find a trajectory when one exists, with probability quickly converg...
---
paper_title: Equation of state calculations by fast computing machines

paper_content:

A general method, suitable for fast computing machines, for investigating such properties as equations of state for substances consisting of interacting individual molecules is described. The method consists of a modified Monte Carlo integration over configuration space. Results for the two‐dimensional rigid‐sphere system have been obtained on the Los Alamos MANIAC and are presented here. These results are compared to the free volume equation of state and to a four‐term virial coefficient expansion.
---
paper_title: Spatial Planning: A Configuration Space Approach

paper_content:

This paper presents algorithms for computing constraints on the position of an object due to the presence of ther objects. This problem arises in applications that require choosing how to arrange or how to move objects without collisions. The approach presented here is based on characterizing the position and orientation of an object as a single point in a configuration space, in which each coordinate represents a degree of freedom in the position or orientation of the object. The configurations forbidden to this object, due to the presence of other objects, can then be characterized as regions in the configuration space, called configuration space obstacles. The paper presents algorithms for computing these configuration space obstacles when the objects are polygons or polyhedra.
---
paper_title: Optimal Dynamic Trajectories for Robotic Manipulators

paper_content:

Higher manipulator speeds are essential to achieve increased productivity, but are limited by the manipulator’s dynamic and actuator capabilities. This paper presents a control algorithm which determines the manner in which a six-degree-of-freedom manipulator should move along a specified path in three-dimensional space to complete its motion in minimum time without violating actuator constraints, thus greatly increasing its speed. The algorithm is computationally efficient and does not require the extensive iterative calculations optimal control laws normally demand. Applications are presented and results that show significant reductions in time over current planning methods for typical manipulators to perform complex manoeuvres. Also shown is how the method is used to improve the design of manipulators and their work stations for better performance.
---
paper_title: Path Planning Algorithm Using the Particle Swarm Optimization and the Improved Dijkstra Algorithm

paper_content:

In this paper, we develop the path planning algorithm using the improved Dijkstra algorithm and the particle swarm optimization. To get the optimal path, at first we construct the MAKLINK on the world environment and then make a graph associated with the MAKLINK. From the graph, we obtain the Dijkstra path between the starting point and the destination point. From the optimal path, we search the improved Dijkstra path using the graph. Finally, applying the particle swarm optimization to the improved Dijkstra path, we obtain the optimal path for the mobile robot. It turns out that the proposed method has better performance than the result.
---
paper_title: Solving the find-path problem by good representation of free space

paper_content:

Free space is represented as a union of (possibly overlapping) generalized cones. An algorithm is presented which efficiently finds good collision-free paths for convex polygonal bodies through space littered with obstacle polygons. The paths are good in the sense that the distance of closest approach to an obstacle over the path is usually far from minimal over the class of topologically equivalent collision-free paths. The algorithm is based on characterizing the volume swept by a body as it is translated and rotated as a generalized cone, and determining under what conditions one generalized cone is a subset of another.
---
paper_title: Path planning for autonomous mobile robot navigation with ant colony optimization and fuzzy cost function evaluation

paper_content:

In the Motion Planning research field, heuristic methods have demonstrated to outperform classical approaches gaining popularity in the last 35 years. Several ideas have been proposed to overcome the complex nature of this NP-Complete problem. Ant Colony Optimization algorithms are heuristic methods that have been successfully used to deal with this kind of problems. This paper presents a novel proposal to solve the problem of path planning for mobile robots based on Simple Ant Colony Optimization Meta-Heuristic (SACO-MH). The new method was named SACOdm, where d stands for distance and m for memory. In SACOdm, the decision making process is influenced by the existing distance between the source and target nodes; moreover the ants can remember the visited nodes. The new added features give a speed up around 10 in many cases. The selection of the optimal path relies in the criterion of a Fuzzy Inference System, which is adjusted using a Simple Tuning Algorithm. The path planner application has two operating modes, one is for virtual environments, and the second one works with a real mobile robot using wireless communication. Both operating modes are global planners for plain terrain and support static and dynamic obstacle avoidance.
---
paper_title: Optimal motion planning for multiple robots having independent goals

paper_content:

This work makes two contributions to geometric motion planning for multiple robots: i) motion plans can be determined that simultaneously optimize an independent performance criterion for each robot; ii) a general spectrum is defined between decoupled and centralized planning. By considering independent performance criteria, we introduce a form of optimality that is consistent with concepts from multi-objective optimization and game theory research. Previous multiple-robot motion planning approaches that consider optimality combine individual criteria into a single criterion. As a result, these methods can fail to find many potentially useful motion plans. We present implemented, multi-robot motion planning algorithms that are derived from the principle of optimality, for three problem classes along the spectrum between centralized and decoupled planning: i) coordination along fixed, independent paths; ii) coordination along independent roadmaps; iii) general, unconstrained motion planning. Several computed examples are presented for all three problem classes that illustrate the concepts and algorithms.
---
paper_title: Time optimal trajectory planning for a robot system under torque and impulse constraints

paper_content:

Moving a fragile object from an initial point to a goal location in minimum time without damage is pursued in this paper. In order to achieve the goal, first of all, the range of maximum acceleration and velocity are specified, which the manipulator can generate dynamically on the path that is planned a priori considering the geometrical constraints. Later, considering the impulsive force constraint of the object, the range of maximum acceleration and velocity are going to be obtained to keep the object safe while the manipulator is earning it along the curved path. Finally, a time-optimal trajectory is planned within the maximum allowable range of the acceleration and velocity. This time optimal trajectory planning can be applied for real applications and is suitable for not only a continuous path but also a discrete path.
---
paper_title: Minimum-time control of robotic manipulators with geometric path constraints

paper_content:

Conventionally, robot control algorithms are divided into two stages, namely, path or trajectory planning and path tracking (or path control). This division has been adopted mainly as a means of alleviating difficulties in dealing with complex, coupled manipulator dynamics. Trajectory planning usually determines the timing of manipulator position and velocity without considering its dynamics. Consequently, the simplicity obtained from the division comes at the expense of efficiency in utilizing robot's capabilities. To remove at least partially this inefficiency, this paper considers a solution to the problem of moving a manipulator in minimum time along a specified geometric path subject to input torque/force constraints. We first describe the manipulator dynamics using parametric functions which represent geometric path constraints to be honored for collision avoidance as well as task requirements. Second, constraints on input torques/ forces are converted to those on the parameters. Third, the minimum-time solution is deduced in an algorithm form using phase-plane techniques. Finally, numerical examples are presented to demonstrate utility of the trajectory planning method developed.
---
paper_title: Principles of Robot Motion

paper_content:

Triaryl-methane dyestuffs which are free from sulfonic acid and carboxylic acid groups and are selected from the group consisting of dyestuffs having one of the following four formulae:
---
paper_title: Path Planning By Multiheuristic Search Via Subgoals

paper_content:

An efficient path planning algorithm for general 6 degrees of freedom robots is presented in the paper. The path planner is based on multiheuristic A search algorithm with dynamic subgoal generation for rapid escaping from deep local-minimum wells. The algorithm has been implemented as an extension to a robot off-line programming and simulation system for testing. The presented test results demonstrate that the algorithm is practically applicable to path planning for devices of different kinematic structure.
---
paper_title: Particle swarm optimization

paper_content:

A concept for the optimization of nonlinear functions using particle swarm methodology is introduced. The evolution of several paradigms is outlined, and an implementation of one of the paradigms is discussed. Benchmark testing of the paradigm is described, and applications, including nonlinear function optimization and neural network training, are proposed. The relationships between particle swarm optimization and both artificial life and genetic algorithms are described.
---
paper_title: Optimal trajectory planning for industrial robots

paper_content:

An analysis of the results of an algorithm for optimal trajectory planning of robot manipulators is described in this paper. The objective function to be minimized is a weighted sum of the integral squared jerk and the execution time. Two possible primitives for building the trajectory are considered: cubic splines or fifth-order B-splines. The proposed technique allows to set constraints on the robot motion, expressed as upper bounds on the absolute values of velocity, acceleration and jerk. The described method is then applied to a 6-d.o.f. robot (a Cartesian gantry manipulator with a spherical wrist); the results obtained using the two different primitives are presented and discussed.
---
paper_title: Direct step‐by‐step method for industrial robot path planning

paper_content:

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to solve the path‐planning problem of industrial robots in complex environments.Design/methodology/approach – A direct method (in each step, the path is been recorded) is presented in which the search of the path is made in the state space of the robotic system, and it makes use of the information generated about the characteristics of the process, introducing graph techniques for branching. The method poses an optimization problem that aims at minimizing the distance travelled by the significant points of the robot.Findings – A new approach to solve the path‐planning problem has been introduced in which the behaviour of three operational parameters (computational time, distance travelled and number of configurations generated) have been analyzed so that the user can choose the most efficient algorithm depending on which parameter he is most interested in.Research limitations/implications – A new technique has been introduced which yields good results as the examples...
---
paper_title: A unified approach for motion and force control of robot manipulators: The operational space formulation

paper_content:

A framework for the analysis and control of manipulator systems with respect to the dynamic behavior of their end-effectors is developed. First, issues related to the description of end-effector tasks that involve constrained motion and active force control are discussed. The fundamentals of the operational space formulation are then presented, and the unified approach for motion and force control is developed. The extension of this formulation to redundant manipulator systems is also presented, constructing the end-effector equations of motion and describing their behavior with respect to joint forces. These results are used in the development of a new and systematic approach for dealing with the problems arising at kinematic singularities. At a singular configuration, the manipulator is treated as a mechanism that is redundant with respect to the motion of the end-effector in the subspace of operational space orthogonal to the singular direction.
---
paper_title: A “retraction” method for planning the motion of a disc

paper_content:

Abstract A new approach to certain motion-planning problems in robotics is introduced. This approach is based on the use of a generalized Voronoi diagram, and reduces the search for a collision-free continuous motion to a search for a connected path along the edges of such a diagram. This approach yields an O ( n log n ) algorithm for planning an obstacle-avoiding motion of a single circular disc amid polygonal obstacles. Later papers will show that extensions of the approach can solve other motion-planning problems, including those of moving a straight line segment or several coordinated discs in the plane amid polygonal obstacles.
---
paper_title: Practical Motion Planning in Robotics: Current Approaches and Future Directions

paper_content:

From the Publisher: ::: Robot motion planning deals with the ability of robots to plot their own collision-free motion. Recent research emphasis has been focused on developing practical motion planners for real manipulator arms with direct industrial relevance. This book concentrates on practical aspects of motion planning for real manipulator arms and is intended to narrow the gap between research and practice. Taking a comprehensive look at the motion-planning problem the work describes algorithms for obstacle identification and avoidance, collision avoidance, path planning.
---
paper_title: Optimal Rough Terrain Trajectory Generation for Wheeled Mobile Robots

paper_content:

An algorithm is presented for wheeled mobile robot trajectory generation that achieves a high degree of generality and efficiency. The generality derives from numerical linearization and inversion of forward models of propulsion, suspension, and motion for any type of vehicle. Efficiency is achieved by using fast numerical optimization techniques and effective initial guesses for the vehicle controls parameters. This approach can accommodate such effects as rough terrain, vehicle dynamics, models of wheel-terrain interaction, and other effects of interest. It can accommodate boundary and internal constraints while optimizing an objective function that might, for example, involve such criteria as obstacle avoidance, cost, risk, time, or energy consumption in any combination. The algorithm is efficient enough to use in real time due to its use of nonlinear programming techniques that involve searching the space of parameterized vehicle controls. Applications of the presented methods are demonstrated for planetary rovers.
---
paper_title: A formulation for path planning of manipulators in complex environments by using adjacent configurations

paper_content:

The problem of robot path planning among obstacles has been approached by formulating robot configurations by means of a suitable fully Cartesian coordinate description. Thus, an analytical expression has been found for adjacent configurations, which is useful in deducing an optimization formulation for the collision-free path problem. An algorithm is proposed to solve the problem of finding a feasible path to be followed to an end point by a robot between given start and end points in space. In the procedure a map of feasible robot configurations is obtained by using a suitable nonlinear programming technique; then a weighted graph is associated to the map and finally a search algorithm is used to obtain a sequence of free-of-collision robot configurations between two previously selected points. The algorithm has been successfully applied to redundant planar robotic manipulators with rotational and prismatic joints, and three-dimensional robotic manipulators. Some numerical examples are reported in the p...
---
paper_title: Path planning for mobile robot using the particle swarm optimization with mutation operator

paper_content:

Path planning is one of the most important technologies in the navigation of the mobile robot, which should meet the optimization and real-time requests. This paper presents a novel approach of path planning. First the MAKLINK graph is built to describe the working space of the mobile robot; then the Dijkstra algorithm is used to obtain the shortest path from the start point to the goal point in the graph, finally the particle swarm optimization algorithm is adopted to get the optimal path. Aiming at the shortcoming of the PSO algorithm, that is, easily plunging into the local minimum, this paper puts forward an advanced PSO algorithm with the mutation operator. By adding a mutation operator to the algorithm, it can not only escape the attraction of the local minimum in the later convergence phase, but also maintain the characteristic of fast speed in the early phase. The results of the simulation demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, which can meet the real-time requests of the mobile robot's navigation.
---
paper_title: Classic and Heuristic Approaches in Robot Motion Planning – A Chronological Review

paper_content:

This paper reviews the major contributions to the Motion Planning (MP) field throughout a 35-year period, from classic approaches to heuristic algorithms. Due to the NP-Hardness of the MP problem, heuristic methods have outperformed the classic approaches and have gained wide popularity. After surveying around 1400 papers in the field, the amount of existing works for each method is identified and classified. Especially, the history and applications of numerous heuristic methods in MP is investigated. The paper concludes with comparative tables and graphs demonstrating the frequency of each MP method’s application, and so can be used as a guideline for MP researchers. Keywords—Robot motion planning, Heuristic algorithms.
---
paper_title: Mobile robot path planning using ant colony optimization

paper_content:

In this paper, the ant colony optimization (ACO) metaheuristic is proposed to solve the mobile robot path planning (MRPP) problem. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of ACO in solving the MRPP problem, several maps of varying complexity used by an earlier researcher is used for evaluation. Each map consists of static obstacles and walls in different arrangements. Besides that, each map has a grid representation with an equal number of rows and columns. These maps have a starting point and a destination as well. At the beginning of the problem, the ants (representing the mobile robot) are placed at the starting point. The ants would then have to find their way towards the destination whilst avoiding all the obstacles and walls along the way. The ants should also do so with the shortest distance possible. The performance of the proposed ACO metaheuristic is tested on a given set of maps and the results are compared with those reported in the literature. The performance of the proposed ACO metaheuristic is found to be better than the result reported in the literature.
---
paper_title: Robot Path Planning Based on Artificial Potential Field Approach with Simulated Annealing

paper_content:

The artificial potential field (APF) approach provides a simple and effective motion planning method for practical purpose. However, artificial potential field approach has a major problem, which is that the robot is easy to be trapped at a local minimum before reaching its goal. The avoidance of local minimum has been an active research topic in path planning by potential field. In this paper, we introduce several methods to solve this problem, emphatically, introduce and evaluate the artificial potential field approach with simulated annealing (SA). As one of the powerful techniques for escaping local minimum, simulated annealing has been applied to local and global path planning.
---
paper_title: Time-Optimal Control of Robotic Manipulators Along Specified Paths

paper_content:

The minimum-time manipulator control problem is solved for the case when the path is specified and the actuator torque limitations are known. The optimal open-loop torques are found, and a method is given for implementing these torques with a conventional linear feedback control system. The algorithm allows bounds on the torques that may be arbitrary functions of the joint angles and angular velocities. This method is valid for any path and orientation of the end- effector that is specified. The algorithm can be used for any manipulator that has rigid links, known dynamic equations of motion, and joint angles that can be determined at a given position on the path.
---
paper_title: Optimal pose trajectory planning for robot manipulators

paper_content:

Planning of robot pose trajectory is a very complex task that plays a crucial role in design and application of robots in task space. This paper presents a unified approach to optimal pose trajectory planning for robot manipulators in Cartesian space through a genetic algorithm (GA) enhanced optimization of the pose ruled surface. The robot pose ruled surface is formed as a motion locus of its configuration vector. The unified treatment of the end-effector positions and orientations is based on the robot pose ruled surface concept and used in trajectory interpolations. The planning of robot pose trajectories is accomplished through the way of generating and optimizing robot pose ruled surfaces under the constraints of kinematics, dynamics and control performances. The optimization model is established based on functional analysis and dynamics planning, and instantiated by using high-order parametric space curves as position and orientation trajectories. A GA enhanced optimization method is used to choose the parameters (coefficients) of space curves such that the pose ruled surface and its area and area change ratios are optimized for achieving good kinematics and dynamics performances. With robot's dynamics constraints taken into account, the optimized trajectories are realizable and robust for control. Two cases are studied to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach.
---
paper_title: Ant Colony Optimization algorithm for robot path planning

paper_content:

Path planning is an essential task for the navigation and motion control of autonomous robot manipulators. This NP-complete problem is difficult to solve, especially in a dynamic environment where the optimal path needs to be rerouted in real-time when a new obstacle appears. The ACO (Ant Colony Optimization) algorithm is an optimization technique based on swarm intelligence. This paper investigates the application of ACO to robot path planning in a dynamic environment. Two different pheromone re-initialization schemes are compared and computer simulation results are presented.
---
paper_title: Motion Planning for Humanoid Robots

paper_content:

Humanoid robotics hardware and control techniques have advanced rapidly during the last five years. Presently, several companies have announced the commercial availability of various humanoid robot prototypes. In order to improve the autonomy and overall functionality of these robots, reliable sensors, safety mechanisms, and general integrated software tools and techniques are needed. We believe that the development of practical motion planning algorithms and obstacle avoidance software for humanoid robots represents an important enabling technology. This paper gives an overview of some of our recent efforts to develop motion planning methods for humanoid robots for application tasks involving navigation, object grasping and manipulation, footstep placement, and dynamically-stable full-body motions. We show experimental results obtained by implementations running within a simulation environment as well as on actual humanoid robot hardware.
---
paper_title: Path Planning and Obstacle Avoidance for Autonomous Mobile Robots: A Review

paper_content:

Recent advances in the area of mobile robotics caused growing attention of the armed forces, where the necessity for unmanned vehicles being able to carry out the dull and dirty operations, thus avoid endangering the life of the military personnel. UAV offers a great advantage in supplying reconnaissance data to the military personnel on the ground, thus lessening the life risk of the troops. In this paper we analyze various techniques for path planning and obstacle avoidance and cooperation issues for multiple mobile robots. We also present a generic dynamics and control model for steering a UAV along a collision free path from a start to a goal position.
---
paper_title: Path planning for a quadruped robot: an artificial field approach

paper_content:

In this paper, we consider the problem of planning a feasible path for a quadruped walking robot in an environment of obstacles. In conventional path-planning problems, the main focus is merely collision avoidance with obstacles since a wheeled robot is involved. However, in the case of a legged robot, both collision avoidance and crossing over obstacles must be taken into account in the process of path planning. Furthermore, the constraints of the gait should be considered to guarantee the feasibility of a planned path. To resolve this complicated problem in a systematic way, a new concept of an artificial thermal field is proposed. Specifically, with the assumption that a robot walks with a periodic crab gait, a robot and obstacles in a three-dimensional (3D) space are projected on a 2D plane. Next, the 2D obstacles are transformed into the configuration space of a quadruped robot. A feasible path is finally sought in an artificial thermal field which is constructed numerically on the discretized config...
---
paper_title: A unified approach for motion and force control of robot manipulators: The operational space formulation

paper_content:

A framework for the analysis and control of manipulator systems with respect to the dynamic behavior of their end-effectors is developed. First, issues related to the description of end-effector tasks that involve constrained motion and active force control are discussed. The fundamentals of the operational space formulation are then presented, and the unified approach for motion and force control is developed. The extension of this formulation to redundant manipulator systems is also presented, constructing the end-effector equations of motion and describing their behavior with respect to joint forces. These results are used in the development of a new and systematic approach for dealing with the problems arising at kinematic singularities. At a singular configuration, the manipulator is treated as a mechanism that is redundant with respect to the motion of the end-effector in the subspace of operational space orthogonal to the singular direction.
---
paper_title: Dynamic window based approach to mobile robot motion control in the presence of moving obstacles

paper_content:

This paper presents a motion control method for mobile robots in partially unknown environments populated with moving obstacles. The proposed method is based on the integration of focused D* search algorithm and dynamic window local obstacle avoidance algorithm with some adaptations that provide efficient avoidance of moving obstacles. The moving obstacles are modelled as moving cells in the occupancy grid map and their motion is predicted by applying a procedure similar to the dynamic window approach. The collision points of the robot predicted trajectory and moving cells predicted trajectories form the new active obstacles in the environment, which should be avoided. The algorithms are implemented and verified using a Pioneer 3DX mobile robot equipped with laser range finder.
---
paper_title: THE VECTOR FIELD HISTOGRAM-FAST OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE FOR MOBILE ROBOTS

paper_content:

A real-time obstacle avoidance method for mobile robots which has been developed and implemented is described. This method, named the vector field histogram (VFH), permits the detection of unknown obstacles and avoids collisions while simultaneously steering the mobile robot toward the target. The VFH method uses a two-dimensional Cartesian histogram grid as a world model. This world model is updated continuously with range data sampled by onboard range sensors. The VFH method subsequently uses a two-stage data-reduction process to compute the desired control commands for the vehicle. Experimental results from a mobile robot traversing densely cluttered obstacle courses in smooth and continuous motion and at an average speed of 0.6-0.7 m/s are shown. A comparison of the VFN method to earlier methods is given. >
---
paper_title: An improved Tangent Bug method integrated with artificial potential field for multi-robot path planning

paper_content:

This paper introduces the utilization of the wall following concept for path planning of multi-robots and proposes an improved Tangent Bug method to avoid falling in local minima encountered by the artificial potential field (APF) method used in real-time path planning. In the new algorithm, more reliable switching and merging conditions are designed to guarantee the success of escape. This method controls a team of robots with a deformable geometry, compliant with nearby static or dynamic obstacles including those represented by each robot team-mates. The robots are virtually linked to each other by the influence of artificial potentials that asymptotically stabilize the formation and keep all the robots separated by specified distances. Simulation studies have been carried out to verify the validity of the proposed method.
---

Title: A review of mobile robots: Concepts, methods, theoretical framework, and applications

Section 1: Introduction
Description 1: This section introduces the field of mobile robotics, highlighting its rapid expansion, various applications, and the basic components required for mobile robotics such as locomotion, perception, cognition, and navigation.

Section 2: Locomotion
Description 2: This section discusses the different locomotion systems for mobile robots, categorizes them based on their medium of movement, and describes various types and configurations of wheels, legs, and hybrid systems.

Section 3: AIV-based robots
Description 3: This section explores unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones, their development, primary applications, and technological advancements.

Section 4: Water-based robots
Description 4: This section focuses on underwater and submarine robots, their designs, objectives, and specific applications in exploring underwater areas.

Section 5: Other robots
Description 5: This section looks at other unique types of robots such as snake-like, worm-like, nanorobots, and cooperative robots, detailing their specific locomotion methods and applications.

Section 6: Perception
Description 6: This section presents the importance of sensors in mobile robots, the different types of sensors used, and their role in robot positioning, localization, and object recognition.

Section 7: Sensor classification
Description 7: This section categorizes various types of sensors, evaluates their performance metrics, and discusses their applications in robotics.

Section 8: Types of sensors
Description 8: This section details the most common sensors used in robotics, including tactile sensors, and their applications in fields like Mars Exploration Rover missions and automated vehicles.

Section 9: Cognition and control system
Description 9: This section explains the control systems of mobile robots, involving perception, processing, cognition, and action, and discusses various control strategies and nonlinear control methods.

Section 10: Navigation
Description 10: This section discusses the navigation skills required for mobile robots, the tasks involved in navigation, and the importance of trajectory planning and obstacle avoidance.

Section 11: Navigation skill
Description 11: This section covers the specific skills needed for mobile robot navigation, including localization techniques, trajectory planning, and obstacle avoidance algorithms.

Section 12: Localization and mapping
Description 12: This section explains the necessity of accurate localization and mapping for successful navigation, along with various positioning techniques and map representation methodologies.

Section 13: Path, trajectory, and motion planning
Description 13: This section discusses the methodologies for path, trajectory, and motion planning, including classical, probabilistic, heuristic, evolutionary, and sensor-based planners.

Section 14: Tracking planning
Description 14: This section delves into the importance of trajectory tracking, its relation to control systems, and the control inputs needed for accurate motion execution.

Section 15: Obstacle avoidance
Description 15: This section highlights the algorithms and strategies for detecting and avoiding obstacles during robot motion, distinguishing between map-based and mapless-based methods.

Section 16: Discussion and conclusions
Description 16: This section summarizes the contents of the paper, discusses the future of mobile robotics, and addresses the expected advancements and applications in various sectors.

Section 17: Declaration of conflicting interests
Description 17: This section declares that the authors have no conflicting interests related to the research, authorship, and publication of the article.

Section 18: Funding
Description 18: This section provides information about the financial support received from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for the research, authorship, and publication of the article.

Section 19: ORCID iD
Description 19: This section links to the author's ORCID iD profile.