Velocity potential approach to path planning for avoiding moving obstacles

Abstract

This paper describes the theory and an experiment of a velocity potential approach to path planning and avoiding moving obstacles for an autonomous mobile robot by use of the Laplace potential. This new navigation function for path planning is feasible for guiding a mobile robot avoiding arbitrarily moving obstacles and reaching the goal in real time. The essential feature of the navigation function comes from the introduction of fluid flow dynamics into the path planning. The experiment is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the navigation function for obstacle avoidance in a real world. Two examples of the experiment are presented; first, the avoidance of a moving obstacle in parallel line-bounded space, and second, the avoidance of one moving obstacle and another standing obstacle. The robot can reach the goal after successfully avoiding the obstacles in these cases.