Design and Implementation of an Autonomous Mobile Robot for Fabric Fluff Collection

An autonomous mobile robot (AMR) is a system that operates in an unpredictable and partially unknown environment with the ability to navigate without disruption and capable to avoid any obstacle placed within the confinement of its movement. This paper highlights the approach of designing and implementation of an AMR with duty to collect fabric fluff along part of an indoor circular knitting floor area of a specified textile factory in Mauritius, for an objective to alleviate the repetitive task of manually disposing the accumulated fabric fluff. As such, the AMR features a self-navigation capability to autonomously drive along the desired floor layout and is also equipped with obstacle detection sensors to overcome any potential collisions. Additionally, a vacuuming system is integrated for suction and temporary storage of the collected fabric fluff deposited on the floor surface.