Collision-Free Path Planning by Using Non-Periodic B-Spline Curves

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a method and a algorithm for the planning of collision-free paths through obstacles for robots end-effectors or autonomously guided vehicles. Fifth-order non-periodic curves are chosen for this purpose. The main ideas are twofold: firstly, to avoid collision by moving around obstacles from the less blocking sides; and secondly, to assign two control points to all vertices of the control polygon. This method guarantees the generation of paths which have C3 continuity everywhere and satisfy the collision-free requirement. In addition, the obstacles can be of any shape, and the computational complexity and difficulty are relatively low. A computer code is developed for the implementation of this method. Cases study is given for illustration.