OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE CONTROL FOR A HUMAN-OPERATED MOBILE ROBOT

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Thesis Type: Postgraduate

Institution Of The Thesis: Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Turkey

Approval Date: 2019

Thesis Language: English

Student: YASER MOHAMADI NAZARABAD IN

Co-Supervisor: Ahmet Buğra Koku

Supervisor: Erhan İlhan Konukseven

Abstract:

In this study, the collaboration between human operator and a wheeled mobile robot in obstacle avoidance scenario is addressed. The tele-operation task is completed by integrating a force-feedback joystick to the human-robot system. The force-feedback joystick is able to apply forces on human operator and establish a bi-directional communication interface between the operator and the robot. Depending on levels of autonomy assigned to the robot, the operator and the robot are assigned with different roles during the navigation to a desired position in an unknown environment. A behavior-based control structure is used to formulate different cooperative control schemes by which the data provided by both the operator and the robot sensory channels are used to generate the optimal control inputs, resulting a safe travel to the goal with a minimum possible number of collisions and in the shortest possible time. The results of the study reveal that compared with manual and autonomous drive modes, cooperative control schemes make significant improvements in the overall performance of the system.