Fast path planning for robot manipulators using numerical potential fields in the configuration space

We present a path planning algorithm for robot manipulators working in an initially known environment. An efficient method constructs the configuration space (C-space) of the robot and expands a local-minima-free numerical potential field in it. So the robot is able to move very fast and collision-free within its workspace (W-space). An extension of that principle allows the robot to handle autonomously new obstacles appearing in its W-space in a fast manner. We have implemented the planner on our 6 degrees of freedom (DOF)-considering 5 of them-space robot ROTEX working within a tight workcell. In order to reduce the off-line computation time of the C-space, the C-space may be only partially constructed taking approximately 5 minutes on a Silicon Graphics IRIS Indigo R4000. Pathfinding solutions for many practical situations are then produced in less than 1 minute.<<ETX>>

[1]  Jean-Daniel Boissonnat,et al.  A practical exact motion planning algorithm for polygonal objects amidst polygonal obstacles , 1988, Proceedings. 1988 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[2]  Tomás Lozano-Pérez,et al.  Automatic Planning of Manipulator Transfer Movements , 1981, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.

[3]  Jean-Claude Latombe,et al.  Robot motion planning , 1991, The Kluwer international series in engineering and computer science.

[4]  Sadao Kawamura,et al.  Fast path planning available for moving obstacle avoidance by use of Laplace potential , 1993, Proceedings of 1993 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS '93).

[5]  Koichi Kondo,et al.  Motion planning with six degrees of freedom by multistrategic bidirectional heuristic free-space enumeration , 1991, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[6]  Narendra Ahuja,et al.  A potential field approach to path planning , 1992, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[7]  El-Ghazali Talbi,et al.  Parallel Motion Planning with the Ariadne's Clew Algorithm , 1993, ISER.

[8]  Oussama Khatib,et al.  Real-Time Obstacle Avoidance for Manipulators and Mobile Robots , 1986 .

[9]  Jean-Claude Latombe,et al.  Robot Motion Planning: A Distributed Representation Approach , 1991, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[10]  Prabir K. Pal,et al.  Fast path planning for robot manipulators using spatial relations in the configuration space , 1993, [1993] Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[11]  Arindam Ghosh,et al.  Optimum path planning for robot manipulators amid static and dynamic obstacles , 1993, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern..

[12]  G. Duelen,et al.  Path Planning of Transfer Motions for Industrial Robots by Heuristically Controlled Decomposition of the Configuration Space , 1992 .

[13]  Klaus Landzettel,et al.  Multisensory shared autonomy and tele-sensor-programming-Key issues in the space robot technology experiment ROTEX , 1993, Proceedings of 1993 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS '93).

[14]  Gerd Hirzinger.  ROTEX - The First Space Robot Technology Experiment , 1993, ISER.

[15]  Jean-Daniel Boissonnat,et al.  A practical exact motion planning algorithm for polygonal object amidst polygonal obstacles , 1988, Geometry and Robotics.

[16]  David Kortenkamp,et al.  Integrated Mobile-Robot Design-Winning the AAAI 1992 Robot Competition , 1993, IEEE Expert.

[17]  E. Freund,et al.  Real-Time Pathfinding in Multirobot Systems Including Obstacle Avoidance , 1988, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[18]  Jean-Claude Latombe,et al.  New heuristic algorithms for efficient hierarchical path planning , 1991, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[19]  Brad E. Paden,et al.  Path planning using a Jacobian-based freespace generation algorithm , 1989, Proceedings, 1989 International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[20]  Rodney A. Brooks,et al.  A subdivision algorithm in configuration space for findpath with rotation , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.

[21]  B. Faverjon,et al.  A local based approach for path planning of manipulators with a high number of degrees of freedom , 1987, Proceedings. 1987 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[22]  L. Gouzenes.  Strategies for Solving Collision-free Trajectories Problems for Mobile and Manipulator Robots , 1984 .

[23]  John H. Reif,et al.  Complexity of the mover's problem and generalizations , 1979, 20th Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (sfcs 1979).

[24]  Tomás Lozano-Pérez,et al.  Spatial Planning: A Configuration Space Approach , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Computers.

[25]  Jean-Claude Latombe,et al.  Numerical potential field techniques for robot path planning , 1991, Fifth International Conference on Advanced Robotics 'Robots in Unstructured Environments.