The State of the Art of Mobile Robots on a Solid Surface

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the state of art of mobile robots presenting aspects of their current level of sophistication, fields mobile robots are being presently used, the future application and scope of mobile robots. Classifying the primary research topics of multi-robot systems into seven major categories (Biological inspirations, architecture, localization/mapping/exploration, object transport and manipulation, motion co-ordination, reconfigurable and learning robot systems, vision), we discuss the current state of research in these areas. An attempt to cover the points for which a general agreement has emerged within the scientific domain, are then presented, followed by a discussion of alternative approaches and currently unsolved problems. This paper also reviews the most relevant literature and previous research activity regarding mobile robotics. We conclude by identifying more topics of scientific consensus, open research issues and a discussion of some application areas where mobile robots could be used with existing technology.