Experimental platform and Matlab toolbox for planning mobile robots

A test bed is developed for facilitating real time experiments with mobile robots. The setup consists of a wheeled mobile robot that moves on a platform, a computer that controls the robot and an overhead camera that closes the loop between these devices. Several Matlab routines were created for reducing the programming burden of designing an experiment. The environment in which the robot moves can be easily changed by placing colored convex regions (obstacles) on the platform. The interface between Matlab and the test bed is ensured by image processing functions that detect the environment map and the robot´s position and orientation, and by functions for moving the robot. Thus, real experiments can be performed for various planning algorithms for which implementations are available. The functionality of the provided toolbox is enhanced by routines that plan the movement of a mobile robot based on cell decompositions, and a supporting experiment is included.