Obstacle Avoidance Using Velocity Dipole Field Method

The velocity dipole field method is presented for real-time collision avoidance of mobile robots. The direction of motion of the obstacle is used as the axis of the dipole field, and the speed of the obstacle is used to proportionally strengthen the dipole field. The elliptical field lines of the dipole field are useful to skillfully guide the robot around obstacles, quite similar to the way humans avoid moving obstacles. Field modulation coefficient is also introduced to weaken the field effect as the obstacle recedes. The real-time algorithm of the velocity dipole field has been devised and experimentally tested on the robot soccer test-bed. The results show the capability of the new real-time collision avoidance strategy and how it can overcome the weaknesses in the conventional potential field method. The new method makes an explicit and proactive action of collision avoidance, unlike the conventional method, which forces the robot merely away from the obstacle aimlessly. The proposed method delivers greater capability with no considerable computational overhead