A Mobile Robot Navigation Method using Virtual Obstacle in indoor environment

A virtual obstacle method for escaping local minima encountered by sonar-based mobile robot navigation used in real-time obstacle avoidance is presented. The new algorithm judges the mobile robot falls into local minima and helps the mobile robot escape from Et, which regards a concave obstacle as convex or flat one, virtual obstacle method. In the algorithm, it starts to make virtual-obstacle when the mobile robot meets a certain condition, then the robot mores back slowly taking inside area of local minima as obstacle gradually The new algorithm is simulated. The experimental results are presented to demonstrate the usefulness of the method.