1. An autonomous cleaning apparatus comprising: a chassis; a drive system disposed on the chassis and operable to enable movement of the cleaning apparatus; a controller in communication with the drive system, the controller including a processor operable to control the drive system to steer movement of the cleaning apparatus; and a cleaning head system disposed on the chassis; a sensor system in communication with the controller, the sensor system comprising: a debris sensor for generating a debris signal; a bump sensor for generating a bump signal; and an obstacle following sensor disposed on a side of the autonomous cleaning apparatus for generating an obstacle signal; wherein the processor executes a prioritized arbitration scheme to identify and implement one or more dominant behavioral modes based upon at least one signal received from the sensor system.