Path (computing)
Related papers: 20
About
A path in computing refers to a sequence of states, waypoints, or edges through a configuration or environment space that connects a start point to a goal. In robotics and AI, path planning is the process of computing such a sequence for a robot or autonomous agent while satisfying constraints like obstacle avoidance, actuator limits, and time optimality. Algorithms range from classical graph search methods like A* and D* to probabilistic approaches such as probabilistic roadmaps and potential field techniques, each making different trade-offs between computational efficiency, completeness, and optimality. Path planning is fundamental to mobile robot navigation, manipulator control, surgical robotics, and autonomous vehicles, enabling systems to move purposefully through complex, partially known, or dynamic environments. As robots operate in increasingly unstructured real-world settings, sophisticated path planning becomes critical for safety, task efficiency, and autonomy—forming the backbone that connects high-level mission goals to low-level motor commands across virtually every domain of robotics.
Top Researchers
Top Cited Papers
Probabilistic roadmaps for path planning in high-dimensional configuration spaces
Lydia E. Kavraki, P. Švestka, J.-C. Latombe, M.H. Overmars
Citations: 6256 • 1996
The development of Honda humanoid robot
Kazuo Hirai, Masato Hirose, Y. Haikawa, Toru Takenaka
Citations: 1925 • 2002
A survey on coverage path planning for robotics
Enric Galceran, Marc Carreras
Citations: 1512 • 2013
Time-Optimal Control of Robotic Manipulators Along Specified Paths
J.E. Bobrow, Steven Dubowsky, J.S. Gibson
Citations: 1301 • 1985
Optimal and Efficient Path Planning for Partially Known Environments
Anthony Stentz
Citations: 1245 • 1997
Coverage for robotics – A survey of recent results
Howie Choset
Citations: 1189 • 2001
Control of chained systems application to path following and time-varying point-stabilization of mobile robots
Claude Samson
Citations: 1061 • 1995
Minimum-time control of robotic manipulators with geometric path constraints
Kang G. Shin, Neil David McKay
Citations: 992 • 1985
Robot Motion Planning: A Distributed Representation Approach
Jérôme Barraquand, Jean‐Claude Latombe
Citations: 988 • 1991
Path Planning for Autonomous Vehicles in Unknown Semi-structured Environments
Dmitri Dolgov, Sebastian Thrun, Michael Montemerlo, James Diebel
Citations: 940 • 2010
Optimal and efficient path planning for partially-known environments
Anthony Stentz
Citations: 886 • 2002
Numerical potential field techniques for robot path planning
Jérôme Barraquand, B. Langlois, J.-C. Latombe
Citations: 885 • 1992
A review: On path planning strategies for navigation of mobile robot
B. K. Patle, Ganesh Babu L, Anish Pandey, Dayal R. Parhi, A. Jagadeesh
Citations: 884 • 2019
Obstacle avoidance and navigation in the real world by a seeing robot rover
Hans Moravec
Citations: 857 • 2018
Path Planning with Modified a Star Algorithm for a Mobile Robot
František Duchoň, Andrej Babinec, Martin Kajan, Peter Beňo, Martin Florek, Tomáš Fico, Ladislav Jurišica
Citations: 855 • 2014
New potential functions for mobile robot path planning
Shuzhi Sam Ge, Ying Cui
Citations: 847 • 2000
The focussed D* algorithm for real-time replanning
Anthony Stentz
Citations: 820 • 1995
Elastic bands: connecting path planning and control
Sean Quinlan, Oussama Khatib
Citations: 797 • 2002
A Probabilistic Approach to Concurrent Mapping and Localization for Mobile Robots
Sebastian Thrun, Wolfram Burgard, Dieter Fox
Citations: 790 • 1998
Toward Efficient Trajectory Planning: The Path-Velocity Decomposition
Kamal Kant, Steven W. Zucker
Citations: 753 • 1986