On the path control of mobile robots: major system components and their interrelations

Operation of mobile robots in an obstructed workspace vitally relies on efficient path control. Required system components include a perception system, global path planning, on-line collision avoidance, and motion control. On-line computation constraints and computer memory restrictions call for fast, efficient algorithms and suitable representation of a priori known objects in the workspace. This paper proposes an integrated on-line path control scheme and discusses the performance of the main modules as well as their interaction.