Sensors (Sep 2012)

A Behavior-Based Strategy for Single and Multi-Robot Autonomous Exploration

  • José L. Gordillo,
  • Luis C. Carrillo-Arce,
  • Edén A. Alanís-Reyes,
  • Rogelio Soto,
  • Luiz Chaimowicz,
  • Jesús S. Cepeda

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/s120912772
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 9
pp. 12772 – 12797

Abstract

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In this paper, we consider the problem of autonomous exploration of unknown environments with single and multiple robots. This is a challenging task, with several potential applications. We propose a simple yet effective approach that combines a behavior-based navigation with an efficient data structure to store previously visited regions. This allows robots to safely navigate, disperse and efficiently explore the environment. A series of experiments performed using a realistic robotic simulator and a real testbed scenario demonstrate that our technique effectively distributes the robots over the environment and allows them to quickly accomplish their mission in large open spaces, narrow cluttered environments, dead-end corridors, as well as rooms with minimum exits.

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