A novel obstacle avoidance algorithm: “Follow the Gap Method”

In this paper, a novel obstacle avoidance method is designed and applied to an experimental autonomous ground vehicle system. The proposed method brings a new solution to the problem and has several advantages compared to previous methods. This novel algorithm is easy to tune and it takes into consideration the field of view and the nonholonomic constraints of the robot. Moreover the method does not have a local minimum problem and results in safer trajectories because of its inherent properties in the definition of the algorithm. The proposed algorithm is tested in simulations and after the observation of successful results, experimental tests are performed using static and dynamic obstacle scenarios. The experimental test platform is an autonomous ground vehicle with Ackermann steering geometry which brings nonholonomic constraints to the vehicle. Experimental results show that the task of obstacle avoidance can be achieved using the algorithm on the autonomous vehicle platform. The algorithm is very promising for application in mobile and industrial robotics where obstacle avoidance is a feature of the robotic system.     

基于多波束前视声呐的水下障碍物检测及避障算法

近年来,人们开始不断地开发海洋资源和空间,如在海底铺设大量的天然气管道以便于运输,因此,利用自主式水下航行器去探测海底天然气管道是否泄漏的技术,就具有重大的战略意义。基于自主式水下航行器搭载的多波束前视声呐采集的数据,进行声呐图像中的障碍物检测,提出了一种基于类间方差及小区域抑制的障碍物检测算法。然后,利用声呐图像的障碍物检测结果,设计了基于障碍物轮廓的避障算法,来估计合理的避障角度,传送给水下航行器的主控来控制航行器避开障碍物。     

基于凸面体圆弧航路的无人机自主避障算法

为解决无人机飞行过程中障碍物规避问题,提出一种新的三维自主避障算法.首先,根据障碍物的若干信息利用标准凸面体对不规则障碍物进行数学建模,用一个或多个标准凸面体覆盖障碍物整体或关键部分;然后,根据障碍物模型设计圆弧规避航路算法,将避障问题转化为跟踪规避航路控制问题,并定义避障判定、避障方向判断和成功避障规则;最后,结合非线性制导律和高度通道控制,实现无人机实时三维航路跟踪与自主避障.非线性数值仿真结果表明,避障算法能够有效地规避障碍物且三维航路跟踪精度好,能够应用于无人机的避障飞行任务.     

Fuzzy-Logic Based Navigation of Underwater Vehicles

A fuzzy logic based general purpose modular control architecture is presented for underwater vehicle autonomous navigation, control and collision avoidance. Three levels of fuzzy controllers comprising the sensor fusion module, the collision avoidance module and the motion control module are derived and implemented. No assumption is made on the specific underwater vehicle type, on the amount of a priori knowledge of the 3-D undersea environment or on static and dynamic obstacle size and velocity. The derived controllers account for vehicle position accuracy and vertical stability in the presence of ocean currents and constraints imposed by the roll motion. The main advantage of the proposed navigation control architecture is its simplicity, modularity, expandability and applicability to any type of autonomous or semi-autonomous underwater vehicles. Extensive simulation studies are performed on the NPS Phoenix vehicle whose dynamics have been modified to account for roll stability.     

基于Q学习的水下滑翔机路径规划方法

针对水下滑翔机路径规划问题，提出了一种基于Q学习的水下滑翔机路径规划方法。考虑到水下滑翔机在执行一些特定任务时会提前给定俯仰角及深度参数，且航向角选择范围通常是几个离散角度值，本文针对典型的几种俯仰角情况分别设计了航向动作选择集，这避免了Q学习方法“维数爆炸”问题。根据水下滑翔机航程最短的目标和障碍物外部约束条件，设计了奖励函数与动作选择策略。相较于传统路径规划方法，本文提出的方法不需要提前知道环境信息，而是在学习过程中根据环境的反馈选择最优动作，因此该方法在不同的环境条件下有优良的迁移能力。仿真结果表明，该方法能在未知环境中为水下滑翔机规划出规避障碍且航程短的路径。     

An Adaptive Obstacle Avoidance Algorithm for Unmanned Surface Vehicle in Complicated Marine Environments

Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) are important autonomous marine robots that have been studied and gradually applied into practice. However, the autonomous navigation of USVs, especially the issue of obstacle avoidance in complicated marine environment, is still a fundamental problem. After studying the characteristics of the complicated marine environment, we propose a novel adaptive obstacle avoidance algorithm for USVs, based on the Sarsa on-policy reinforcement learning algorithm. The proposed algorithm is composed of local avoidance module and adaptive learning module, which are organized by the "divide and conquer" strategy-based architecture. The course angle compensation strategy is proposed to offset the disturbances from sea wind and currents. In the design of payoff value function of the learning strategy, the course deviation angle and its tendency are introduced into action rewards and penalty policies. The validity of the proposed algorithm is verified by comparative experiments of simulations and sea trials in three sea-state marine environments. The results show that the algorithm can enhance the autonomous navigation capacity of USVs in complicated marine environments.      

基于生物启发模型的AUV三维自主路径规划与安全避障算法

针对自治水下机器人(AUV)的路径规划问题,在三维栅格地图的基础上,给出一种基于生物启发模型的三维路径规划和安全避障算法. 首先建立三维生物启发神经网络模型,利用此模型表示AUV的三维工作环境,神经网络中的每一个神经元与栅格地图中的位置单元一一对应;然后,根据神经网络中神经元的活性输出值分布情况自主规划AUV的运动路径.静态环境与动态环境下仿真实验结果表明了生物启发模型在AUV三维水下环境中路径规划和安全避障上的有效性.     

自治水下机器人的自主启发式生物启发神经网络路径规划算法

针对复杂海流环境下自治水下机器人(autonomous underwater vehicle, AUV)的路径规划问题,本文在栅格地图的基础上给出了一种基于离散的生物启发神经网络(Glasius bio-inspired neural networks, GBNN)模型的新型自主启发式路径规划和安全避障算法,并考虑海流对路径规划的影响.首先建立GBNN模型,利用此模型表示AUV的工作环境,神经网络中的每一个神经元与栅格地图中的位置单元一一对应;其次,根据神经网络中神经元的活性输出值分布情况并结合方向信度算法实现自主规划AUV的运动路径;最后根据矢量合成算法确定AUV实际的航行方向.障碍物环境和海流环境下仿真实验结果表明了生物启发模型在AUV水下环境中路径规划的有效性.     

滑翔式水下航行器的运动建模与分析

滑翔式水下航行器是一种基于滑翔原理的无外挂推进系统、仅依靠内置执行机构调整重心位置和净浮力来控制其自身运动状态的新型水下自治机器人。它在净浮力的作用下,利用水平翼在有攻角情况下产生的前进动力,在设定的深度范围内进行锯齿形前进。对滑翔式水下航行器进行运动机理分析,建立滑翔式水下航行器运动数学模型,并对滑翔式水下航行器定常运动状态下的运动参数与可控变量的关系进行仿真,利用MATLAB/SIMULINK建立滑翔式水下航行器模型对其运动进行仿真。     

基于单目视觉的实时测距方法研究

为了利用单目视觉实时监测本车与前方障碍物之间的距离,在比较了现有的几类用于车辆控制的道路深度信息获取方法的基础上,首先研究了较为适用于汽车自动驾驶的几何关系推导法,进而提出了基于单目视觉的实时测距算法.通过试验可知,由于摄像机的俯仰角是影响实时测距算法的关键因素,因此又提出了基于道路边界平行约束条件的实时计算摄像机俯仰角算法.静态实车试验的结果显示,该基于单目视觉的实时测距算法具有较高的准确性,可以满足测距要求,而动态实车试验的结果则显示,此算法还可以满足汽车智能化控制的实时性要求.     

Robot-Assisted Bridge Inspection

The Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (CRASAR®) deployed a customized AEOS man-portable unmanned surface vehicle and two commercially available underwater vehicles (the autonomous YSI EcoMapper and the tethered VideoRay) for inspection of the Rollover Pass bridge in the Bolivar peninsula of Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. A preliminary domain analysis with the vehicles identified key tasks in subsurface bridge inspection (mapping of the debris field and inspecting the bridge footings for scour), control challenges (navigation under loss of GPS, underwater obstacle avoidance, and stable positioning in high currents without GPS), possible improvements to human-robot interaction (having additional display units so that mission specialists can view and operate on imagery independently of the operator control unit, incorporating 2-way audio to allow operator and field personnel to communicate while launching or recovering the vehicle, and increased state sensing for reliability), and discussed the cooperative use of surface, underwater, and aerial vehicles. The article posits seven milestones in the development of a fully functional UMV for bridge inspection: standardize mission payloads, add health monitoring, improve teleoperation through better human-robot interaction, add 3D obstacle avoidance, improve station-keeping, handle large data sets, and support cooperative sensing.     

Seafloor map generation for autonomous underwater vehicle navigation

Elevation map generation is an essential component of any autonomous underwater vehicle designed to navigate close to the seafloor because elevation maps are used for obstacle avoidance, path planning and self localization. We present an algorithm for the reconstruction of elevation maps of the seafloor from side-scan sonar backscatter images and sparse bathymetric points co-registered within the image. Given the trajectory for the underwater vehicle, the reconstruction is corrected for the attitude of the side-scan sonar during the image generation process. To perform reconstruction, an arbitrary but computable scattering model is assumed for the seafloor backscatter. The algorithm uses the sparse bathymetric data to generate an initial estimate for the elevation map which is then iteratively refined to fit the backscatter image by minimizing a global error functional. Concurrently, the parameters of the scattering model are determined on a coarse grid in the image by fitting the assumed scattering model to the backscatter data. The reconstruction is corrected for the movement of the sensor by initially doing local reconstructions in sensor coordinates and then transforming the local reconstructions to a global coordinate system using vehicle attitude and performing the reconstruction again. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm on synthetic and real data sets. Our algorithm is shown to decrease the average elevation error when compared to real bathymetry from 4.6 meters for the initial surface estimate to 1.6 meters for the final surface estimate from a survey taken of the Juan de Fuca Ridge.     

基于BP神经网络的移动机器人避障设计及仿真

为了解决移动机器人在复杂环境中如何高效精确地躲避障碍物的问题,提出了一种基于BP神经网络的避障方法。建立了机器人的避障运动模型并设计了神经网络避障控制系统;分析了机器人在运动过程中与障碍物的位置关系,使用超声波传感器采集距离信息,进行BP神经网络输入、输出训练并采用Matlab工具进行仿真试验。结果表明,该方法可以高效精确地实现移动机器人的自主避障,运行相对稳定、轨迹连续平滑,达到了较为理想的避障效果。验证了方法的可行性和有效性,为移动机器人自主避障提供了一种新的控制方法。     

基于多波束前视声纳的AUV实时避障方法研究

在未知海洋环境下的远程航海过程中,基于前视声纳的避障能力是AUV（自治式水下机器人）的一个基本要求．提出了一种基于多波束前视声纳的实时避障专家系统．介绍了声纳特性以及障碍物描述方法,给出了避障专家系统的结构,说明了避障专家系统的决策过程．结合当前任务执行信息设计了专家系统知识库,针对声纳图像设计并实现了一种可以给出避障和重规划指令的推理机．最后,通过湖试对AUV避障专家系统进行了验证．     

基于区块链的侦查机器人实时避障与航线控制

为弥补侦查机器人行进灵活性不足的缺陷,降低无故运动碰撞事件的发生几率,提出基于区块链的侦查机器人实时避障与航线控制算法;利用超声信号处理电路,提取可供直接应用的侦查运动节点,联合已完成配置的MoveIt避障程序,实现对侦查机器人的实时避障运动规划;在此基础上,设置LQR控制器,在控制机器人侦查航速的同时,建立必要运动操纵方程,完成对侦查机器人的运动航线控制,提升与运动设备元件相关的行进灵活性;完善P2P网络平台,以待交互的运动数据作为处理支持条件,将所有侦查信息封装至同一区块组织中,完成基于区块链的避障控制原理研究,实现侦查机器人实时避障与航线控制算法的搭建;对比实验结果表明,应用基于区块链的控制算法后,C-Space参数极值超过8.0,RRT灵敏度也提升至75%,实现了对侦查机器人的灵活性行进控制,有效抑制了无故运动碰撞事件的出现。     

Hierarchical control of cooperative nonlinear dynamical systems

Cooperative control methods that are scalable with low computational cost are crucial for networked dynamical systems to respond quickly in unknown or cluttered environments. In an attempt to make the problem tractable, many existing cooperative controls are designed with oversimplified assumptions and/or without the capabilities of rapidly handling different environmental and dynamical constraints. In this article, proposed is a two-level hierarchical, cooperative control framework using a divide-and-conquer strategy so that challenges can be separately handled at different levels. It is scalable and has low computational cost. Based on a simplified homogeneous double-integrator dynamic model, the top-level planner first computes cooperative trajectories satisfying obstacle avoidance requirements. Then at the lower level, state and control constraints, nonlinear dynamics and self-collision/obstacle avoidance as related to the real system are addressed through a bio-inspired fast trajectory planning algorithm. The stability of the overall hierarchical structure is proven. Two examples, a differential-drive ground vehicle formation control and an unmanned aerial vehicle formation flight, are used to illustrate the advantages of the proposed hierarchical framework.     

自治式水下机器人避障行为机制研究

针对未知环境下自治式水下机器人(AUV)的运动规划问题,提出了一种基于行为的避障和趋向目标方法。根据行为动力学原理,设计了水平方面的趋向目标行为模块和避障行为模块,利用水平面的宏行为实现了水平面行为模块的融合。垂直面的行为设计根据模糊理论建立了输入"深度"和"高度"的模糊隶属度,制定了航行深度和距底高度与参考深度之间的推理规则,再通过解模糊化得到实际的参考深度的精确量。仿真结果表明:所设计的行为模型对外界环境有较好的反应性,响应正确有效,有助于提高AUV对环境的适应性。     

Rough Terrain Autonomous Mobility—Part 2: An Active Vision, Predictive Control Approach

Off-road autonomous navigation is one of the most difficult automation challenges from the point of view of constraints on mobility, speed of motion, lack of environmental structure, density of hazards, and typical lack of prior information. This paper describes an autonomous navigation software system for outdoor vehicles which includes perception, mapping, obstacle detection and avoidance, and goal seeking. It has been used on several vehicle testbeds including autonomous HMMWV's and planetary rover prototypes. To date, it has achieved speeds of 15 km/hr and excursions of 15 km.We introduce algorithms for optimal processing and computational stabilization of range imagery for terrain mapping purposes. We formulate the problem of trajectory generation as one of predictive control searching trajectories expressed in command space. We also formulate the problem of goal arbitration in local autonomous mobility as an optimal control problem. We emphasize the modeling of vehicles in state space form. The resulting high fidelity models stabilize coordinated control of a high speed vehicle for both obstacle avoidance and goal seeking purposes. An intermediate predictive control layer is introduced between the typical high-level strategic or artificial intelligence layer and the typical low-level servo control layer. This layer incorporates some deliberation, and some environmental mapping as do deliberative AI planners, yet it also emphasizes the real-time aspects of the problem as do minimalist reactive architectures.     

Receding horizon maneuver generation for automated highway driving

This paper focuses on the problem of decision-making and control in an autonomous driving application for highways. By considering the decision-making and control problem as an obstacle avoidance path planning problem, the paper proposes a novel approach to path planning, which exploits the structured environment of one-way roads. As such, the obstacle avoidance path planning problem is formulated as a convex optimization problem within a receding horizon control framework, as the minimization of the deviation from a desired velocity and lane, subject to a set of constraints introduced to avoid collision with surrounding vehicles, stay within the road boundaries, and abide the physical limitations of the vehicle dynamics. The ability of the proposed approach to generate appropriate traffic dependent maneuvers is demonstrated in simulations concerning traffic scenarios on a two-lane, one-way road with one and two surrounding vehicles.     

基于级联方法的欠驱动AUV全局K指数3 维直线跟踪控制

采用非线性系统级联方法,提出一种欠驱动自主水下航行器的3维直线跟踪控制算法,首先将3维直线跟踪误差模型分解为水平面运动受垂直面运动扰动的级联结构;然后分别设计俯仰角指令和航向角指令,进一步将平面直线跟踪模型分解为位置跟踪误差受俯仰角/航向角跟踪误差扰动的级联结构,并设计了俯仰角和航向角的跟踪控制律,通过逐级应用级联系统稳定性理论证明了3维直线跟踪误差的全局κ指数稳定性;最后通过数学仿真验证了所提出跟踪控制算法的有效性。