Avoiding Obstacles : Implementation of an Improved Smooth Navigation Controller
José is an autonomous robotic waiter that uses sensory input to help it guide through an obstaclepopulated environment. José is equipped with a Triclops stereo vision module that has three identical wide-angle (90-degree field of view) cameras. José also has sonar sensors, but at this point they are not working properly so the robot relies entirely on its visual sense for navigation control. Stereo vision provides rich two-dimensional information about the world, which includes colour, texture and depth. Additionally, José can measure distances from obstacles using stereo triangulation. José uses the range information obtained from stereo triangulation to construct radial maps, which are then used to construct or update a top-down two-dimensional occupancy grid map of its environment. José uses this map to identity free and obstructed regions for path planning.