Mobile robot navigation based on local route information and pedestrians' flow

This paper proposes a new navigation method that makes a mobile robot move without map information. Past navigation methods need map information and the robot's self-location. If the robot has no information of map or mistakes localization, the navigation method cannot be used. To overcome this problem, we introduce a new concept "leading vector" that indicates about the direction of the destination (local route information). The robot can move smoothly by using the leading vector if the passage structure is not complicated. However, the robot may be in danger of collision in complicated environments only using the leading vector. Therefore, the proposed method uses pedestrians' flow information. The environmental information is enclosed by the pedestrians' flow information at second hand. The robot can reach its destination by utilizing the leading vector using the local route information and the pedestrians' flow information. In this paper, simulation experiment was conducted, and its results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.