Fuzzy Control of Mobile Vehicles in Unconstrained Environments

• Main Author: Khedr, Tarek Y.
• Published: University of Newcastle Upon Tyne 2008
• Subjects: 006.3
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.485511

Advanced Robotics requires robots with mobility, high level sensory control, wireless communication and graphics user interfaces. It IS important to have effective algorithms for controlling the Robot In unconstrained environment besides having a friendly graphic user interface (GUI) to make it easy for the user to control the Robot. This thesis deals with these two important points. Firstly a friendly graphic user interface called Charlie Operating System for Windows (ChaOS/or Windows) is created to .Mlable the user to control the movement . of the Robot in an easy way either on-line or off-line. This operating system is designed to benefit from the great capabilities of Windows to facilitate controlling Charlie·robots. It uses multitasking to allow the user to monitor and control the robot using simple commands. Secondly, Fuzzy Logic Controllers (FLC) are simulated to control Charlie Mobile Robots. These controllers are designed to combine Collision Avoidance with Goal Achievement according to certain priorities. Three different modes of controlling the vehicle are used. The first mode is to control the vehicle while roving in an unknown environment with ,. unconstrained obstacles. The second mode is controlling the vehicle searching for a target located at an undetermined place. The third mode is controlling the vehicle searching for a specific target located at a known place in a partially known environment. Finally, after testing the Fuzzy Logic Control algorithms using a single vehicle and having satisfactory results, these techniques have been used to control multiple vehicles moving in the same workspace.