Robotics and Autonomous Systems 52 (2005) 290–311 Sensor-based robot motion generation in unknown, dynamic and troublesome scenarios Javier Minguez ∗ , Luis Montano Instituto de Investigaci´ on en Ingenier´ ıa de Arag´ on, Departamento de Inform ´ atica e Ingenier´ ıa de Sistemas, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain Received 28 May 2004; received in revised form 15 May 2005; accepted 3 June 2005 Available online 28 July 2005 Abstract A sensor-based motion control system was designed to autonomously drive vehicles free of collisions in unknown, troublesome and dynamic scenarios. The system was developed based on a hybrid architecture with three layers (modeling, planning and reaction). The interaction of the modules was based on a synchronous planner–reactor configuration where the planner computes tactical information to direct the reactivity. Our system differs from previous ones in terms of the choice of the techniques implemented in the modules and in the integration architecture. It can achieve robust and reliable navigation in difficult scenarios that are troublesome for many existing methods. Experiments carried out in these scenarios with a real vehicle confirm the effectiveness of this technique. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Mobile robots; Sensor-based motion control; Architectures for navigation; Obstacle avoidance 1. Introduction More and more research and industrial interests in robotics are focused on improving the degree of system autonomy. Robots are being developed that operate under a wide variety of conditions, with an emphasis on long work periods without human intervention. These include specific tasks that are tedious or involve dangerous or hostile surroundings. Autonomous nav- ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 976 762 350; fax: +34 976 761 914. E-mail address: jminguez@unizar.es (J. Minguez). igation systems are used in applications like service robots, surveillance, or exploration, where the vehicle moves and carries out the main task at the same time. One of the key aspects of these robots is mobil- ity, since it is the basis on which to incorporate more subsystems with different functionalities. However, the performance of the motion system strongly affects task performance. Special problems arise in applications that may lead to fatal consequences (e.g., robots that transport dangerous materials). Mobility is closely related with the nature of the sce- nario. In many applications, the environment cannot be specified with an a priori map and can be dynamic. 0921-8890/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.robot.2005.06.001