ACTIVE SENSOR FUSION FOR COLLISION-AVOIDANCE IN BEHAVIOR-BASED MOBILEROBOTS

Presently, mobile robots are navigated by means of a number of methods , using navigating systems such as the sonar-sensing system or the vis ual-sensing system. These systems each have their strengths and weakne sses. For example, although the visual system enables a rich input of data from the surrounding environment, allowing an accurate perception of the area, processing of the images invariably takes time. The sona r system, on the other hand, though quicker in response, is limited in terms of quality, accuracy and range of data. Therefore, any navigati on methods that involves only any one system as the primary source for navigation, will result in the incompetency of the robot to navigate efficiently in a foreign, slightly-more-complicated-than-usual surroun ding. Of course, this is not acceptable if robots are to work harmonio usly with humans in a normal office/laboratory environment. Thus, to f ully utilise the strengths of both the sonar and visual sensing system s, this paper proposes a fusion of navigating methods involving both t he sonar and visual systems as primary sources to produce a fast, effi cient and reliable obstacle-avoiding and navigating system. Furthermor e, to further enhance a better perception of the surroundings and to i mprove the navigation capabilities of the mobile robot, active sensing modules are also included. The result is an active sensor fusion syst em for the collision avoiding behaviour of mobile robots. This behavio ur can then be incorporated into other purposive behaviours (eg. Goal Seeking, Path Finding, etc.). The validity of this system is also show n in real robot experiments.