A Shortest Path Algorithm for a Carlike Robot in a Polygonal Environment

摘要

This paper addresses the problem of finding a shortest collision- free path for a carlike point robot maneuvering around polygonal obstacles in a room bounded by a polygonal line. The authors introduce a sufficient set of 56 subpath types for the no-obstacle case in which a subpath is defined as a piece of a path that starts and ends at either the initial position, the final position, or any position on a cell boundary. The authors propose a near-optimal algorithm that consists of finding a shortest path in a search graph where the arcs represent subpaths whose types belong to the sufficient set. The authors then study an algorithm in which the robot is allowed to turn on the spot at a certain cost. Finally, the authors compare the solutions derived from both algorithms.