On differential drive robot odometry with application to path planning

Localization and path planning for obstacle avoidance are two fundamental aspects of mobile robots navigation. In this paper, we improve the localization ability of a robot through odometry, and present and extend a path planning method for such robots. To improve the odometry accuracy of the robot, we propose a new odometry calibration method, and we evaluate the replacement of the differential drive robot caster with an omniwheel. A path planning method in implemented which yields path planning with simultaneous obstacle avoidance, with extended applicability. The odometry improvement method is applied to a differential drive mobile robot but it can be also applied to any other mobile robot if the corresponding kinematic model is used. Experiments show that the calibration method yields improved results.