Velocity control of mobile robots using Pace Maker Light system

Abstract

Automated driving is attracting attention as a technology that can improve the convenience and comfort of mobility. Research on automated driving continues to develop not only in the approach of vehicle automation but also in the approach of driver assistance. As an example of driver assistance technologies, a system has been proposed in which multiple light sources are placed at equal intervals in a tunnel and blink to encourage drivers to adjust their speed. This system is called a Pace Maker Light (PML). In this paper, we focus on the PML and consider applying it to automatic driving. Therefore, this paper aims to realize the velocity control of an autonomous mobile robot using the PML. First, we modeled the PML and the mobile robot and formulated the design problem of the velocity controller of the robot. Then, we proposed a control law that can achieve velocity control based on the light intensity information obtained from the PML. Finally, we conducted velocity control simulations and experiments with a miniature-scale experimental setup. As a result, it was confirmed that the proposed method could be used to achieve the target speed on a level road and a slope.

Keywords

• mobile robot
• velocity control
• environment light stimuli
• controller design