Affiliations: Information Engineering Section, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2BT, UK; tel.: +44-171-589 5111; fax: +44-171-581 4419; e-mail: M.Alwan@ic.ac.uk and P.Cheung@ic.ac.uk
Note: [] This research is a part of a joint research project carried out in cooperation with the Higher Institute of Applied Science and Technology, in Damascus, Syria, where the first author is an assistant lecturer.
Abstract: This paper introduces a method for modelling a Mobile Robot's environment, with its in-built uncertainties, in the Configuration Space using sonar range finders. The sonar uncertainties are modelled using a possibilistic, rather than probabilistic, measure and are represented by Fuzzy Membership grades. The Resistive Grid path planning method, that maps the Fuzzy Configuration Space Map into a grid of resistors and models goals as voltage sources, is used for planning a path. The near-optimal planned path takes into consideration position and modelling uncertainties, kinematic constraints of the vehicle as well as the uncertainty of the goal. The path is produced incrementally, giving inherent interleaving between planning and execution, thus the method is particularly suited for real time applications.
