A mechatronics student developing software to help self-guiding robots navigate accurately has won an award at the University of New South Wales.

PhD candidate Mark Whitty, from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, won the 2010 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Research for his work on a system that enables autonomous robots to rapidly recalculate their route to overcome errors in mapping and scanning that would otherwise prevent accurate navigation.

The software breaks down large maps into small sections and detects any errors that have occurred due to scanning or mapping inaccuracies, then allows the robot to rapidly recalculate its path to eliminate the errors.

Whitty says the technology has particular advantages for multiple robots operating together.

"Imagine you are blindfolded and you are told to walk around in a square to come back to where you started – in many ways that’s what an autonomous robot is like," he said. "I’m aiming to improve the accuracy of that movement."