🚀 Autonomous Obstacle-Avoiding Differential Drive Robot in MATLAB with LIDAR & Dynamic Window Approach (DWA)
🎯 Project Overview
This project is a fully functional MATLAB simulation of an autonomous differential drive robot equipped with simulated LIDAR sensors. It can avoid obstacles and navigate from a user-defined start to goal point using the Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) – a widely used real-time motion planning algorithm in mobile robotics.
Perfect for robotics students, researchers, and enthusiasts looking to learn, simulate, or showcase intelligent robot navigation and control.
🧠 What’s Included?
Full, well-structured MATLAB code
Obstacle-rich environment
Simulated LIDAR sensor
DWA motion planning controller
Beautiful 2D real-time simulation & final analysis plots
⚙️ Core Features
✅ Advanced Dynamic Window Approach (DWA)
Velocity sampling with prediction
Goal alignment scoring
Collision checking with rectangular obstacles
Lateral drift minimization
Adaptive velocity based on distance to goal
✅ Obstacle-Aware Navigation
Intelligent local planning
Avoids both small and large obstacles
Collision detection with buffer margin
✅ Simulated LIDAR
360° (customizable) laser scan
Dynamic visualization of scan points
Used for path planning & safety
✅ Realistic Differential Drive Motion
Robot follows unicycle model (x, y, θ)
Realistic turning using angular velocity ω
Simulated wheels & body drawing for clarity
✅ Interactive Start & Goal Selection
Click to set the robot’s initial and final positions
Instant simulation starts after input
✅ Post-Simulation Analysis
Plots for:
Final trajectory
Linear velocity over time
Angular velocity over time
Acceleration profile
Distance to goal over time
📦 What You Get
.m MATLAB file (well-commented, modular)
No toolboxes required (uses base MATLAB)
Easy-to-run: just press Run and click to start
🧠 Algorithms Used
✅ Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) for control
✅ Simulated LIDAR for environment perception
✅ Real-time motion prediction & scoring
✅ Collision checking with bounds
✅ Interactive GUI-based waypoint selection
💻 System Requirements
MATLAB R2018 or newer
No extra toolboxes required
Runs on Windows, macOS, or Linux
🎓 Ideal For
Robotics & AI coursework
Undergraduate / Master's projects
Research demos
Teaching motion planning
Visualizing DWA with LIDAR
🌟 Bonus
Clear modular functions for easy learning
Can be extended to add:
Dynamic obstacles
A* global planner
Sensor noise modeling
🛠️ Customizations Available
Want to integrate A*, SLAM, dynamic obstacles, or GUI panel? I offer custom development and extensions – contact me after purchase!