Wheeled autonomous mobile robots for use in harsh environments: a survey of recent publications

• Main Author: Larkin, Susan M.
• Other Authors: Mechanical Engineering
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: Virginia Tech 2014
• Subjects: autonomous mobile robots; sensors; path planning; navigation; motion control; system architecture; LD5655.V855 1996.L375
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/40846; http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-01312009-063343/

Research in the area of autonomous mobile robots has increased over the last several years. Autonomous mobile robots are now being used in a wide variety of applications, including nuclear plant maintenance, interplanetary exploration, military missions and smart highway systems. This thesis is a survey of recent publications, 1990-1996, of wheeled autonomous mobile robots for harsh environments. Various sensing, navigation, and motion control strategies commonly used on autonomous mobile robots are compared. The integration of all three systems in a system architecture is also presented. Following a general discussion of autonomous mobile robot technology, vehicles that have entered the Unmanned Ground Robotics Competition are presented as a focused study of the application of this broad field of research. === Master of Science