Position control of a mobile robot

Position calculation of mobile objects has challenged engineers and designers for years and is still continuing to do so. There are many solutions available today. Probably the best known and most widely used outdoor system today is the Global Positioning System (GPS). There are very little systems available for indoor use. An absolute positioning system was developed for this thesis. It uses a combination of ultrasonic and Radio Frequency (RF) communications to calculate a position fix in doors. Radar techniques were used to ensure robustness and reliability even in noisy environments. A small mobile robot was designed and built to test and illustrate the use of the system. OPSOMMING Posisiebeheer van mobiele objekte is ’n probleem wat al vir baie jare vir ingenieurs ’n uitdaging is. Menige oplossings is al gevind vir hierdie probleem. Die bekendste stelsel is seker die Globale Posisionering Stelsel (GPS). Hierdie stelsel is slegs geskik vir buitenshuise beheer. Daar is baie min stelsels beskikbaar vir binnenshuise posisiebeheer. ’n Absolute posisioneringstelsel is vir hierdie tesis ontwikkel. Dit gebruik ’n kombinasie van ultrasoniese en Radio Frekwensie (RF) kommunikasie om ’n posisie-bepaling te doen. Radar tegnieke is gebruik om te verseker dat die stelsel robuust is, selfs in ’n raserige omgewing. ’n Klein mobiele robot (Peete5) is ontwerp en gebou om die stelsel te toets en die gebruik daarvan te illustreer.