MOBILE ROBOTS: OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE AND MANUVERING

The objective of the project is to design and implement a mobile robot. The robot
will be able to avoid obstacles and have its own decision making capability. It will be
a part of the preparation for the department of Electrical Electronics Engineering
University Teknoiogi Petronas for various activities which require robotics design
participation. As one of the final year electrical electronics student I have been given
the chance to be part of the path finding.
The scope of the study will be mainly on the design and implementation of the
robot from scratch or little knowledge. The study will be handled part by part for
components needed for the robot. First will be the structure of the robot. Next the
mobility and drive circuit will be design to enable the robot to be mobile. Sensors will
be put in place so that the robot is able to "feel" and "see" it's surrounding. When this
is done a "brain" or microcontroller will be put in place so that it is able to control
itself and make simple decision.
The methodology or approach can be divided into software and hardware.
Basically the same methodology will be use again and again in the module design
process. Finally the parts will be integrated as one mobile robot. This will become the
final robot.
In the discussion part, the findings are being discussed in detail. The problem and
the solution for the problem is being discussed base on the student point of view. The
reader might get the idea on the limitations of a mobile robot as the size and weight
increases. These are the factors that are becoming the bottle neck in this design
project.
Before ending the chapter, some recommendation has been suggested for further
improvement by future robotics builder. The suggestions are made base on ^q current
available technology and also the experience gain by the student through out this
design project.