Goal-enhancement technique for fuzzy terrain-based navigation

This paper presents a simple reactive terrain navigation strategy for a shape-shifting tracked mobile robot on environments consisting of flat surfaces, discrete climbable steps and slopes. The proposed navigation strategy employs the concept of fuzzy Terrain Traversability Index, where the ease of traversal is evaluated from a combination of geometric properties. In the two-layer fuzzy controller, the Terrain Traversability Index is first computed based on slope gradient and step height, of which data is obtained from an a priori information of its surroundings in the form of a 2.5D grid map, before combined with sonar sensory data to determine the overall traversability of the region. Using goal-enhancement on fuzzy sets prior to defuzzification, the fuzzy controller outputs a turn recommendation which is deemed most convenient for the mobile robot. The navigation algorithm has been implemented into a virtual agent and case studies. These studies have shown encouraging results of the ability of the mobile robot to select its path based on its perceived ease of traversing

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