Obstacle Detection and Avoidance from an Automated Guided Vehicle

Published

September 18, 2014

Author(s)

Roger V. Bostelman, William P. Shackleford, Geraldine S. Cheok

Abstract

Current automated guided vehicle (AGV) technology typically provides material handling flow along single or dual opposing-flow lanes in manufacturing and distribution facilities. An AGV stops for most any obstacle that may be in its path which then stops other AGVs behind it until the obstacle is removed. An alternative to serial AGV flow is to provide parallel flow in particular areas, such as buffer zones and appropriate lanes where a stopped AGV can be passed by other AGVs. This paper describes two obstacle detection and avoidance (ODA) methods developed, demonstrated, and the performance of an industrial AGV with its stock controller and an added high-level planning algorithm was measured by a laser tracker. These methods will allow current, off-the-shelf AGVs to advance towards unstructured environment navigation.

Proceedings Title

2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

Conference Dates

September 14-18, 2014

Conference Location

Chicago, IL

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

automated guided vehicle (AGV), obstacle detection and avoidance, ANSI/ITSDF B56.5, traffic flow, algorithm, material handling

Citation

Bostelman, R. , Shackleford, W. and Cheok, G. (2014), Obstacle Detection and Avoidance from an Automated Guided Vehicle, 2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Chicago, IL, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=915448 (Accessed October 10, 2025)