A real-time limit-cycle navigation method for fast mobile robots and its application to robot soccer

A mobile robot should be designed to navigate with collision avoidance capability in the real world, flexibly coping with the changing environment. In this paper, a novel limit-cycle navigation method is proposed for a fast mobile robot using the limit-cycle characteristics of a 2nd-order nonlinear function. It can be applied to the robot operating in a dynamically changing environment, such as in a robot soccer system. By adjusting the radius of the motion circle and the direction of obstacle avoidance, the navigation method proposed enables a robot to maneuver smoothly towards any desired destination. Simulations and real experiments using a robot soccer system demonstrate the merits and practical applicability of the proposed method. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.