Robot navigation is the capability of a mobile robot to determine its position, plan a route, and move safely through an environment toward a goal while avoiding obstacles. It integrates localisation, mapping, path planning, and motion control into a continuous perception-action loop. Robot navigation combines sensor fusion with algorithms such as SLAM to operate in unknown or dynamic surroundings.
Overview
- Navigation fuses sensing, localisation, planning, and control into a closed loop.
- Robots build or use maps to reason about free space and obstacles.
- Path and motion planning translate goals into safe, feasible trajectories.
- Dynamic environments demand continuous re-planning and obstacle avoidance.
Key aspects
- Localisation estimates robot pose from sensor data and prior maps.
- Mapping constructs spatial models, often jointly with localisation via SLAM.
- Path planning finds collision-free global routes toward the goal.
- Motion planning and control produce executable, kinematically feasible trajectories.
Applications
- Autonomous mobile robots in warehouses and logistics.
- Service and delivery robots operating in human environments.
- Field and inspection robots traversing unstructured terrain.
- Indoor wheeled platforms performing repeatable transport tasks.