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; and 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; wherein the sensor system comprises right and left debris sensors in communication with the controller and disposed proximate a cleaning pathway of the cleaning head system for generating respective debris signals; and wherein the processor directs the drive system to turn right in response to the debris signal generated by the right debris sensor and to turn left in response to the debris signal generated by the left debris sensor.