Navit(oo)n: Open Source Mobile Robot Project for Nakanoshima Robot Challenge

Recently, the legislation regarding autonomous mobile robots for outdoor pedestrian areas have been advancing, leading to increased expectations for task automation such as transportation and cleaning. Outdoor environments like parks, where vehicles cannot enter, present many three-dimensional terrains such as stairs and inclined surfaces, causing difficulty in achieving accurate environment recognition and autonomous movement. Furthermore, robots that navigate pedestrian walkways must be smaller and lighter than cars and also have a robust system capable of traversing steps and uneven surfaces and withstanding rainy weather. Currently, robots designed for paved roads are commercially available; however, robots capable of navigating park walkways are still in the research and development stage. Therefore, to accelerate the research and development of outdoor autonomous mobile robots, this study proposes the Navit(oo)n platform, designed for use in outdoor environments. This robot can be manufactured using easily obtainable parts, and all CAD data, circuit design data, and autonomous movement software are provided as open source. This paper introduces an overview of Navit(oo)n that successfully completed the course and achieved all tasks in the recent Nakanoshima Robot Challenge.