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With the increasing demand for surveillance and smart transportation, drone technology has become the center of attraction for robotics researchers. This study aims to introduce a new path planning approach to drone navigation based on topology in an uncertain environment. The main objective of this study is to use the Ricci flow evolution equation of metric and curvature tensor over angular Riemannian metric, and manifold for achieving navigational goals such as path length optimization at the minimum required time, collision-free obstacle avoidance in static and dynamic environments and reaching to the static and dynamic goals. The proposed navigational controller performs linearly and nonlinearly both with reduced error-based objective function by Riemannian metric and scalar curvature, respectively.

Topology and manifolds application-based methodology establishes the resultant drone. The trajectory planning and its optimization are controlled by the system of evolution equation over Ricci flow entropy. The navigation follows the Riemannian metric-based optimal path with an angular trajectory in the range from 0° to 360°. The obstacle avoidance in static and dynamic environments is controlled by the metric tensor and curvature tensor, respectively. The in-house drone is developed and coded using C++. For comparison of the real-time results and simulation results in static and dynamic environments, the simulation study has been conducted using MATLAB software. The proposed controller follows the topological programming constituted with manifold-based objective function and Riemannian metric, and scalar curvature-based constraints for linear and nonlinear navigation, respectively.

This proposed study demonstrates the possibility to develop the new topology-based efficient path planning approach for navigation of drone and provides a unique way to develop an innovative system having characteristics of static and dynamic obstacle avoidance and moving goal chasing in an uncertain environment. From the results obtained in the simulation and real-time environments, satisfactory agreements have been seen in terms of navigational parameters with the minimum error that justifies the significant working of the proposed controller. Additionally, the comparison of the proposed navigational controller with the other artificial intelligent controllers reveals performance improvement.

In this study, a new topological controller has been proposed for drone navigation. The topological drone navigation comprises the effective speed control and collision-free decisions corresponding to the Ricci flow equation and Ricci curvature over the Riemannian metric, respectively.

Since many global path planning algorithms cannot achieve the planned path with both safety and economy, this study aims to propose a path planning method for unmanned vehicles with a controllable distance from obstacles.

First, combining satellite image and the Voronoi field algorithm (VFA) generates rasterized environmental information and establishes navigation area boundary. Second, establishing a hazard function associated with navigation area boundary improves the evaluation function of the A^* algorithm and uses the improved A^* algorithm for global path planning. Finally, to reduce the number of redundant nodes in the planned path and smooth the path, node optimization and gradient descent method (GDM) are used. Then, a continuous smooth path that meets the actual navigation requirements of unmanned vehicle is obtained.

The simulation experiment proved that the proposed global path planning method can realize the control of the distance between the planned path and the obstacle by setting different navigation area boundaries. The node reduction rate is between 33.52% and 73.15%, and the smoothness meets the navigation requirements. This method is reasonable and effective in the global path planning process of unmanned vehicle and can provide reference to unmanned vehicles’ autonomous obstacle avoidance decision-making.

This study establishes navigation area boundary for the environment based on the VFA and uses the improved A* algorithm to generate a navigation path that takes into account both safety and economy. This study also proposes a method to solve the redundancy of grid environment path nodes and large-angle steering and to smooth the path to improve the applicability of the proposed global path planning method. The proposed global path planning method solves the requirements of path safety and smoothness.

This paper aims to incorporate one intelligent particle swarm optimization (IPSO) controller to realize an optimum path in unknown environments. In this paper, the fitness function of IPSO is designed with intelligent design parameters, solving the path navigation problem of an autonomous wheeled robot towards the target point by avoiding obstacles in any unknown environment.

This controller depends on randomly oriented positions with all other position information and a fitness function. Evaluating the position’s best values, this study gets the local best values, and finally, the global best value is updated as the current value after comparing the local best values.

The path navigation of the proposed controller has been compared with particle swarm optimization algorithm, BAT algorithm, flower pollination algorithm, invasive weed algorithm and genetic algorithm in multiple challenging environments. The proposed controller shows the percent deviation in path length near 14.54% and the percent deviation in travel time near 4% after the simulation. IPSO is applied to optimize said parameters for path navigation of the wheeled robot in different simulation environments.

A hardware model with a 32-bit ARM board interfaced with a global positioning system (GPS) module, an ultrasonic module and ZigBee wireless communication module is designed to implement IPSO. In real-time, the IPSO controller shows the percent deviation in path length near 9%.

This research aims to focus on providing interventions to alleviate usability challenges to strengthen the overall accuracy and the navigation effectiveness in indoor and stringent environments through the experiential manipulation of technical attributes of the positioning and navigation system.

The study followed a quantitative and experimental method of empirical enquiry and software engineering and synthesis research methods. The study further entails three implementation processes, namely, map generation, positioning framework and navigation service using a prototype mobile navigation application that uses the near field communication (NFC) technology.

The approach and findings revealed that the capability of NFC in leveraging its low-cost infrastructure of passive tags, its availability in mobile devices and the ubiquity of the mobile device provided a cost-effective solution with impressive accuracy and usability. The positioning accuracy achieved was less than 9 cm. The usability improved from 44 to 96 per cent based on feedbacks given by respondents who tested the application in an indoor environment. These showed that NFC is a viable alternative to resolve the challenges identified in previous solutions and technologies.

The major limitation of the navigation application was that there is no real-time update of user position. This can be investigated and extended further by using NFC in a hybrid make-up with WLAN, radio-frequency identification (RFID) or Bluetooth as a cost-effective solution for real-time indoor positioning because of their coverage and existing infrastructures. The hybrid positioning model, which merges two or more techniques or technologies, is becoming more popular and will improve its accuracy, robustness and usability. In addition, it will balance complexity, compensate for the limitations in the technologies and achieve real-time mobile indoor navigation. Although the presence of WLAN, RFID and Bluetooth technologies are likely to result in system complexity and high cost, NFC will reduce the system’s complexity and balance the trade-off.

Whilst limitations in existing indoor navigation technologies meant putting up with poor signal and poor communication capabilities, outcomes of the NFC framework will offer valuable insight. It presents new possibilities on how to overcome signal quality limitations at improved turn-around time in constrained indoor spaces.

The innovations have a direct positive social impact in that it will offer new solutions to mobile communications in the previously impossible terrains such as underground platforms and densely covered spaces. With the ability to operate mobile applications without signal inhibitions, the quality of communication – and ultimately, life opportunities – are enhanced.

While navigating, users face several challenges, such as infrastructure complexity, high-cost solution, inaccuracy and usability. Hence, as a contribution, this paper presents a symbolic map and path architecture of a floor of the test-bed building that was uploaded to OpenStreetMap. Furthermore, the implementation of the RFID and the NFC architectures produced new insight on how to redress the limitations in challenged spaces. In addition, a prototype mobile indoor navigation application was developed and implemented, offering novel solution to the practical problems inhibiting navigation in indoor challenged spaces – a practical contribution to the community of practice.

With enhanced use of humanoids in demanding sectors of industrial automation and smart manufacturing, navigation and path planning of humanoid forms have become the centre of attraction for robotics practitioners. This paper aims to focus on the development and implementation of a hybrid intelligent methodology to generate an optimal path for humanoid robots using regression analysis, adaptive particle swarm optimization and adaptive ant colony optimization techniques.

Sensory information regarding obstacle distances are fed to the regression controller, and an interim turning angle is obtained as the initial output. Adaptive particle swarm optimization technique is used to tune the governing parameter of adaptive ant colony optimization technique. The final output is generated by using the initial output of regression controller and tuned parameter from adaptive particle swarm optimization as inputs to the adaptive ant colony optimization technique along with other regular inputs. The final turning angle calculated from the hybrid controller is subsequently used by the humanoids to negotiate with obstacles present in the environment.

As the current investigation deals with the navigational analysis of single as well as multiple humanoids, a Petri-Net model has been combined with the proposed hybrid controller to avoid inter-collision that may happen in navigation of multiple humanoids. The hybridized controller is tested in simulation and experimental platforms with comparison of navigational parameters. The results obtained from both the platforms are found to be in coherence with each other. Finally, an assessment of the current technique with other existing navigational model reveals a performance improvement.

The proposed hybrid controller provides satisfactory results for navigational analysis of single as well as multiple humanoids. However, the developed hybrid scheme can also be attempted with use of other smart algorithms.

Humanoid navigation is the present talk of the town, as its use is widespread to multiple sectors such as industrial automation, medical assistance, manufacturing sectors and entertainment. It can also be used in space and defence applications.

This approach towards path planning can be very much helpful for navigating multiple forms of humanoids to assist in daily life needs of older adults and can also be a friendly tool for children.

Humanoid navigation has always been tricky and challenging. In the current work, a novel hybrid methodology of navigational analysis has been proposed for single and multiple humanoid robots, which is rarely reported in the existing literature. The developed navigational plan is verified through testing in simulation and experimental platforms. The results obtained from both the platforms are assessed against each other in terms of selected navigational parameters with observation of minimal error limits and close agreement. Finally, the proposed hybrid scheme is also evaluated against other existing navigational models, and significant performance improvements have been observed.

The purpose of this work is to propose quad wheel robot with path navigation using an intelligent novel algorithm named as obstacle-avoiding intelligent algorithm (OAIA).

The paper proposes OAIA algorithm, which is used to minimize the path distance and elapsed time between source and goal.

The hardware implementation of the Quad Wheel Robot design includes a global positioning system (GPS) module for path navigation. An ultrasonic module (HC SR04) is mainly used as the sensing unit for the system. In the proposed scheme, the GPS locator (L80) is used to obtain the current location of the robot, and the ultrasonic sensor is utilized to avoid the obstacles. An ARM processor serves as the heart of the Quad Wheel Robot.

This paper includes real-time implementation of quad wheel robot for various coordinate values, and the movement of the robot is captured and analysed.

The proposed OAIA is capable of estimating the mobile robot position exactly under ideal circumstances. Simulation and hardware implementation are carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed system.

This paper aims to address the safety concerns of path-planning algorithms in dynamic obstacle warehouse environments. It proposes a method that uses improved artificial potential fields (IAPF) as expert knowledge for an improved deep deterministic policy gradient (IDDPG) and designs a hierarchical strategy for robots through obstacle detection methods.

The IAPF algorithm is used as the expert experience of reinforcement learning (RL) to reduce the useless exploration in the early stage of RL training. A strategy-switching mechanism is introduced during training to adapt to various scenarios and overcome challenges related to sparse rewards. Sensor inputs, including light detection and ranging data, are integrated to detect obstacles around waypoints, guiding the robot toward the target point.

Simulation experiments demonstrate that the integrated use of IDDPG and the IAPF method significantly enhances the safety and training efficiency of path planning for mobile robots.

This method enhances safety by applying safety domain judgment rules to improve APF’s security and designing an obstacle detection method for better danger anticipation. It also boosts training efficiency through using IAPF as expert experience for DDPG and the classification storage and sampling design for the RL experience pool. Additionally, adjustments to the actor network’s update frequency expedite convergence.

Wheelchair robot navigation in different weather conditions using single camera is still a challenging task. The purpose of this study is to develop an autonomous wheelchair robot navigation method in different weather conditions, with single camera vision to assist physically disabled people.

A road detection method, called dimensionality reduction deep belief neural network (DRDBNN), is proposed for drivable road detection. Due to the dimensionality reduction ability of the DRDBNN, it detects the drivable road area in a short time for controlling the robot in real-time. A feed-forward neural network is used to control the robot for the boundary following navigation using evolved neural controller (ENC). The robot detects road junction area and navigates throughout the road, except in road junction, using calibrated camera and ENC. In road junction, it takes turning decision using Google Maps data, thus reaching the final destination.

The developed method is tested on a wheelchair robot in real environments. Navigation in real environments indicates that the wheelchair robot moves safely from source to destination by following road boundary. The navigation performance in different weather conditions of the developed method has been demonstrated by the experiments.

The wheelchair robot can navigate in different weather conditions. The detection process is faster than that of the previous DBNN method. The proposed ENC uses only distance information from the detected road area and controls the robot for boundary following navigation. In addition, it uses Google Maps data for taking turning decision and navigation in road junctions.

The purpose of this research is to provide the necessarily and resourceful information regarding range sensors to select the best fit sensor for robust autonomous navigation. Autonomous navigation is an emerging segment in the field of mobile robot in which the mobile robot navigates in the environment with high level of autonomy by lacking human interactions. Sensor-based perception is a prevailing aspect in the autonomous navigation of mobile robot along with localization and path planning. Various range sensors are used to get the efficient perception of the environment, but selecting the best-fit sensor to solve the navigation problem is still a vital assignment.

Autonomous navigation relies on the sensory information of various sensors, and each sensor relies on various operational parameters/characteristic for the reliable functioning. A simple strategy shown in this proposed study to select the best-fit sensor based on various parameters such as environment, 2 D/3D navigation, accuracy, speed, environmental conditions, etc. for the reliable autonomous navigation of a mobile robot.

This paper provides a comparative analysis for the diverse range sensors used in mobile robotics with respect to various aspects such as accuracy, computational load, 2D/3D navigation, environmental conditions, etc. to opt the best-fit sensors for achieving robust navigation of autonomous mobile robot.

This paper provides a straightforward platform for the researchers to select the best range sensor for the diverse robotics application.

Modern service robots are designed to work in a complex indoor environment, in which the robot has to interact with the objects in different ambient light intensities (day light, tube light, halogen light and dark ambiance). The variations in sudden ambient light intensities often cause an error in the sensory information of optical sensors like laser scanner, which reduce the reliability of the sensor in applications such as mapping, path planning and object detection of a mobile robot. Laser scanner is an optical sensor, so sensory information depends upon parameters like surface reflectivity, ambient light condition, texture of the targets, etc. The purposes of this research are to investigate and remove the effect of variation in ambient light conditions on the laser scanner to achieve robust autonomous mobile robot navigation.

The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of ambient light condition (dark ambiance, tube light and halogen bulb) on the accuracy of the laser scanner for the robust autonomous navigation of mobile robot in diverse illumination environments. A proposed AIFA (Adaptive Intensity Filter Algorithm) approach is designed in robot operating system (ROS) and implemented on a mobile robot fitted with laser scanner to reduce the effect of high-intensity ambiance illumination of the environment.

It has been experimentally found that the variation in the measured distance in dark is more consistent and accurate as compared to the sensory information taken in high-intensity tube light/halogen bulbs and in sunlight. The proposed AIFA approach is implement on a laser scanner fitted on a mobile robot which navigates in the high-intensity ambiance-illuminating complex environment. During autonomous navigation of mobile robot, while implementing the AIFA filter, the proportion of cession with the obstacles is reduce to 23 per cent lesser as compared to conventional approaches.

The proposed AIFA approach reduced the effect of the varying ambient light conditions in the sensory information of laser scanner for the applications such as autonomous navigation, path planning, mapping, etc. in diverse ambiance environment.