SONAR Based Obstacle Detection and Avoidance Algorithm

Autonomous robots are intelligent machines that are capable of performing desired tasks by themselves, without explicit human control. This paper presents a novel simple algorithm based on ultrasonic sensors and simple calculations for real-time obstacle detection and avoidance that is intended for mobile robots. The design is implemented in air using ultrasonic sensors but can be adapted using sonar to underwater environments where it has important applications such as deep sea maintenance and reconnaissance tasks. The paper also presents performance results of a prototype developed to prove the design concept.