Re: [Playerstage-users] Randomwalk

[Brian G. <ge...@ro...>]

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004, Tauseef Gulrez wrote:

> Hi All, can any body tell me that which algorithm(method) randomwalk
> uses for obstacle avoidance.

hi Tauseef,

It's something like this, in a loop:

  if(obstacle-detected || motors-stalled)
  {
    stop and rotate in place for 1.5 seconds, hopefully toward free space;
  }
  else
  {
    pick a random rotational velocity and apply it for 2 seconds;
    drive forward for 3 seconds;
  }

I've left out lots of details, like the fact that obstacle detection is
done at all times.

This algorithm is not very smart, but it works pretty well unless your
environment has serious geometric regularities (in which case the robot
can get stuck in an oscillation).

        brian.

-- 
Brian P. Gerkey                    ge...@ro...
Stanford Robotics Lab              http://robotics.stanford.edu/~gerkey