How the robot works
The robot builds a topological map autonomously of an area. Afterwards it is capable of using the map to generate the shortest path to a destination, and then travel there. Since the limited range of the primary sensors (Sharp IR Rangefinders 10-80cm), the robot maps and navigates following walls.
This is the target area of the simulation.
Here is the results of the mapping (in the simulator). For a detailed explanation download thesis.pdf on the main page.
And of course a close up of the map