Safe Path Planning Based on Probabilistic Foam for a Lower Limb Active Orthosis to Overcoming an Obstacle

Abstract

This paper presents an approach to simplify the path planning for an active orthosis through the application of the Probabilistic Foam Method. In this method, a structure called probabilistic foam was formed by a set of bubbles that propagates through the free space starting from an initial configuration to a goal configuration. Thus, it is possible to extract an obstacle-free path. Bubbles ensure safe region, meeting the safety requirements in maneuvering. In this paper, the method uses workspace metrics instead of configuration space metrics, enabling its application on robotics problems defined in high-dimensional spaces. Preliminary results show that the method was able to plan the safe movement to be performed by an active orthosis, transposing obstacles and performing safe movements in the proposed scenario.