Mobile Robot Path Planning using Digital Image Processing

Autonomous mobile robots can be considered the ultimate goal for the joint research area of automatic control and artificial intelligence which is now called "intelligent control". An intelligent mobile robot system is a type of autonomous mobile vehicle that is able to independently plan its own route and navigate through obstacles to reach a specified destination. There is no human input or intervention except for specifying the destination point. Its potential applications range from civilian (cars that do not require human drivers) to industrial (multiple co-operative mobile robots in a factory) to military (unmanned vehicles that can independently seek and destroy enemy targets). One of the main tasks for an intelligent mobile robot to do is the path planning, i.e. to determine the shortest-distant or shortest-time route that is free from collision. Much effort has been put forth by researchers to solve the path planning problem in the presence of static and moving obstacles. Personal robotics applications require autonomous mobile robot navigation methods that are safe, robust, and inexpensive. Two requirements for autonomous use of robots for such applications are an automat