Design of Autonomous Mobile Robot for Cleaning in the Environment with Obstacles

Abstract

This paper describes the design and development of a cleaning robot, using adaptive manufacturing technology and its use with a control algorithm for which there is a stability proof. The authors’ goal was to fill the gap between theory and practical implementation based on available low-cost components. Adaptive manufacturing was chosen to cut down the cost of manufacturing the robot. Practical verification of the effectiveness of the control algorithm was achieved with the experiments. The robot comprises mainly three assemblies, a four-wheel-drive platform, a four-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm, and a vacuum system. The inlet pipe of the vacuum system was attached to the end effector of the robotic arm, which makes the robot more flexible to clean uneven areas, such as skirting on floors. The robot was equipped with a LIDAR sensor and web camera, giving the opportunity to develop more complex methods. A low-level proportional–integral–derivative (PID) speed controller was implemented, and a high-level controller that uses artificial potential functions to generate repulsive components, which avoids collision with obstacles. Robot operating system (ROS) was installed in the robot’s on-board system. With the help of the ROS node, the high-level controller generates control signals for the low-level controller.