Sensor-based control using finite time observer of visual signatures: Application to corridor following

In this paper, we describe an approach to autonomous navigation using a state observer for sensor based control. In particular, we investigate the task of corridor following in the case of sensory failure (unreliable data) and/or loss of measurement. Our approach uses a virtual sensory frame to project laser rangefinder scans, and builds visual features (namely the position of the vanishing point and the orientation of the corridor median line) to be used in the control law. To insure a safe and smooth navigation even when those parameters cannot be extracted, we design a finite time state observer to estimate the visual features with the objective of maintaining an efficient control of the robot. Simulation and experimental tests validate the proposed approach.