A nonholonomic under-actuated robot with a bounded control range travels inside an unknown and unstructured 3D tunnel bounded by a generic 2D surface. The robot has access to the nearest point of the surface and measures the distance to the surface along any ray from a narrow beam emitted from the robot around the direction to the nearest point. We present a new navigation law that ensures constant advancement of the robot through the tunnel, along with respecting a given safety margin to its surface, driving the robot to the desired distance to it, and subsequently maintaining this distance. This law is reactive: it generates the current control as a reflex-like reaction to the current observation. Rigorous justification of the proposed guidance approach is provided; its applicability and performance are confirmed by computer simulation tests.

Original languageEnglish
Article number108831
Number of pages11
JournalAutomatica
Volume114
Early online date28 Jan 2020
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2020

    Research areas

  • Advancement through a tunnel, Robot navigation, Sensor based control, Three-dimensional workspace, DESIGN, IN-PIPE INSPECTION, VEHICLE, AUTONOMOUS EXPLORATION, GUIDANCE

    Scopus subject areas

  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Control and Systems Engineering

ID: 52311449