EgressBug: A real time path planning algorithm for a mobile robot in an unknown environment

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of path planning for a mobile robot in a region occupied by finite number obstacles. The region and the obstacles are not known a priori to the robot. We present an online path planning algorithm called EgressBug, that makes the robot reach any specified point in the space, and stops by reporting failure when the specified goal point does not belong to the free space. The proposed EgressBug algorithm uses simple move toward a point and wall following behaviors. The algorithm is illustrated with the help of examples, and paths generated by the EgressBug algorithm are compared with those generated by the Bug2 and TangentBug algorithms. � 2012 Springer-Verlag.