This paper presents a new obstacle
avoidance method for fast-running vehicles.
This approach, called the vector field histogram (VFH) method, has been developed and
successfully tested on our experimental mobile robot CARMEL. The VFH algorithm is
computationally efficient, very robust and insensitive to misreadings, and it allows continuous
and fast motion of the mobile robot without stopping for obstacles. The VFH-controlled
mobile robot traverses very densely cluttered obstacle courses at high average speeds and is
able to pass through narrow openings (e.g., doorways) or negotiate narrow corridors without
oscillations.