Navigation

The navigation service gives a mobile robot the ability to navigate autonomously to GPS coordinates while avoiding obstacles. You define waypoints on a map, and the robot drives itself between them.

This is GPS-based outdoor navigation. You need a mobile base, a GPS-capable movement sensor, and optionally cameras with vision services for obstacle detection. The navigation service handles path planning, replanning when the robot deviates, and obstacle avoidance. Your code sets waypoints and monitors progress.

What you can do

• Navigate to GPS coordinates. Send the robot to a specific latitude and longitude. The navigation service plans a path and drives the base there, replanning if the robot deviates or encounters obstacles.
• Follow patrol routes. Define a sequence of waypoints and the robot navigates to each one in order.
• Avoid obstacles. Configure vision services and cameras as obstacle detectors. The navigation service feeds detected obstacles into the path planner automatically. You can also define static obstacles and geofences (bounding regions) in the configuration.
• Switch between manual and autonomous control. Set the navigation mode to Manual to drive the base directly, or Waypoint to start autonomous navigation. Switching to Manual stops the current plan but preserves your waypoints.

What you need

• A configured base (the robot’s drive system).
• A configured movement sensor that provides GPS position and compass heading.
• Optionally, one or more camera and vision service pairs for obstacle detection.

How it works

The navigation service operates in one of two modes:

• Manual mode. The service is passive. You control the base directly through base API calls or the Control tab. The service still reports the robot’s location through GetLocation.
• Waypoint mode. The service takes control of the base. It picks the next unvisited waypoint, calls the motion service’s MoveOnGlobe to plan and execute a path, monitors progress, and moves to the next waypoint when it arrives. If navigation fails (obstacle, deviation, error), the service retries the same waypoint automatically.

The service uses the motion service internally for path planning and execution. You don’t call the motion service directly when using navigation.