Reactive navigation through Multiscroll Systems: from theory to a real-time implementation

In this paper a new reactive layer for multi-sensory integration applied to robot navigation is proposed. The new robot navigation technique exploits the use of a chaotic system able to be controlled in real-time towards less complex orbits, like periodic orbits or equilibrium points, considered as perceptive orbits. These are subject to real-time modifications on the basis of environment changes acquired through a distributed sensory system. The strategy is inspired to the olfactory bulb neural activity observed in rabbits subject to external stimuli. The mathematical details of the approach are given including simulation results in a virtual environment. Furthermore the proposed strategy has been tested on an experimental environment consisting of an FPGA-based hardware driving an autonomous roving robot. The obtained results demonstrate the capability to perform a real-time navigation control.