The objective of this research is to study high level global path planning and dispatching of multiple vehicles using statistical models and graph representation techniques and a low level multi-sensor based local path planning and navigation system. These efforts will support the development of a complex manufacturing floor material handling system using guide path independent autonomous vehicles. Particular efforts to be emphasized in this project include development of a geometric representation of the factory floor and a graph representation of the paths in a factory; development of vehicle dispatching techniques and a collision avoidance strategy; and the development of an onboard Hierarchical Mutiprocessor Computer System to support real time operation of an intelligent mobile robot. The design and implementation of an experimental system to test the proposed approaches will also be pursued.
