Results in Combined Route Traversal and Collision Avoidance

This paper presents an outdoor mobile robot capable of high-speed navigation in outdoor environments. Here we consider the problem of a robot that has to follow a designated path at high speeds over undulating terrain. It must also be perceptive and agile enough to avoid small obstacles. Collision avoidance is a key problem and it is necessary to use sensing modalities that are able to operate robustly in a wide variety of conditions. We report on the sensing and control necessary for this application and the results obtained to date.