Title :
Local path control for an autonomous vehicle
Author :
Nelson, Winston L. ; Cox, Ingeniar J.
Author_Institution :
AT&T Bell Lab., Murray Hill, NJ, USA
Abstract :
A control system for an autonomous robot cart designed to operate in well-structured environments such as offices and factories is described. The onboard navigation system comprises a reference-state generator, an error-feedback controller, and cart-location sensing using odometry. There is a convenient separation between the path guidance and control logic. Under normal operating conditions, the controller ensures that the errors between the measured and reference states are small. These errors only exceed set limits if the cart is malfunctioning. Major hardware failures can be detected in this way and failsafe procedures invoked. Results on the control system performance derived from a computer simulation of the cart and its operating environment, and from an experimental cart, indicate that the system can provide reliable, accurate, and safe operation
Keywords :
computerised navigation; control systems; feedback; position control; robots; vehicles; autonomous robot cart; autonomous vehicle; cart-location sensing; control system; error-feedback controller; local path control; odometry; onboard navigation system; path guidance; reference-state generator; Computer errors; Control systems; Error correction; Hardware; Logic; Mobile robots; Navigation; Production facilities; Remotely operated vehicles; Robot sensing systems;
Conference_Titel :
Robotics and Automation, 1988. Proceedings., 1988 IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Philadelphia, PA
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-0852-8
DOI :
10.1109/ROBOT.1988.12280
