A mobile robot comprising: a main body configured to travel about a cleaning area and to suck in a foreign material in the cleaning area; a first pattern emission unit disposed on a front surface of the main body to emit light of a first pattern toward a front lower side of the main body; a second pattern emission unit disposed on the front surface of the main body and disposed below the first pattern emission unit to emit light of a second pattern toward a front upper side of the main body; an image obtainer provided on the front surface of the main body to obtain an image of a front side of the main body; and a controller configured to detect a first light pattern corresponding to the light of the first pattern and a second light pattern corresponding to the light of the second pattern from the obtained image received from the image obtainer, to determine an obstacle, and to perform control to pass or avoid the obstacle, wherein the controller determines a restriction situation when travel is impossible due to a plurality of obstacles to set an escape mode, detects information on peripheral obstacles to set an escape route, and enables escape from the restriction situation through travel along the escape route, characterised in that, when an operation mode of the main body is a quick cleaning mode upon setting the escape mode, the controller determines whether entry is possible according to a distance between two detected obstacles among the plurality of obstacles and sets the escape route if a travelable area is present, and when an operation mode of the main body is a basic mode upon setting the escape mode, the controller detects information on the plurality of obstacles within a predetermined distance, generates a peripheral area map including the information on the obstacles, searches for a travelable area based on the peripheral area map, and sets the escape route, and wherein, when an operation mode of the main body is a basic mode, the controller makes one rotation at a current position, analyzes the first light pattern or the second light pattern of the obtained image during one rotation, detects the information on the plurality of obstacles, and generates the peripheral area map. a main body configured to travel about a cleaning area and to suck in a foreign material in the cleaning area; a first pattern emission unit disposed on a front surface of the main body to emit light of a first pattern toward a front lower side of the main body; a second pattern emission unit disposed on the front surface of the main body and disposed below the first pattern emission unit to emit light of a second pattern toward a front upper side of the main body; an image obtainer provided on the front surface of the main body to obtain an image of a front side of the main body; and a controller configured to detect a first light pattern corresponding to the light of the first pattern and a second light pattern corresponding to the light of the second pattern from the obtained image received from the image obtainer, to determine an obstacle, and to perform control to pass or avoid the obstacle, wherein the controller determines a restriction situation when travel is impossible due to a plurality of obstacles to set an escape mode, detects information on peripheral obstacles to set an escape route, and enables escape from the restriction situation through travel along the escape route, characterised in that, when an operation mode of the main body is a quick cleaning mode upon setting the escape mode, the controller determines whether entry is possible according to a distance between two detected obstacles among the plurality of obstacles and sets the escape route if a travelable area is present, and when an operation mode of the main body is a basic mode upon setting the escape mode, the controller detects information on the plurality of obstacles within a predetermined distance, generates a peripheral area map including the information on the obstacles, searches for a travelable area based on the peripheral area map, and sets the escape route, and wherein, when an operation mode of the main body is a basic mode, the controller makes one rotation at a current position, analyzes the first light pattern or the second light pattern of the obtained image during one rotation, detects the information on the plurality of obstacles, and generates the peripheral area map.