| |
ABSTRACT
Autonomous mobile robots are being developed for numerous applications
where long-term capabilities would be beneficial. However, most mobile
robots have on-board power supplies in the form of batteries that last for
a finite amount of time, in which case the robot becomes reliant on human
intervention for extended usage. To achieve true long-term autonomy, the
robot must be self-sustaining in its environment. We have developed a
control architecture and an accompanying recharging mechanism which allows
a robot to readily intervene its regular operation with autonomous
recharging to stay alive. We demonstrate the efficacy of our system
experimentally, by requiring the robot to serve as a sentry, monitoring
our lab entrance for an extended period of time. The system is able to
operate for long periods of time without operator intervention.
|
