Path planning for smooth operations of nonholonomic mobile robots using piecewise-uniform turning maneuvers

Abstract

Path planning for smooth operations is important for nonholonomic mobile robots to operate safely and efficiently. This study proposes an approach to design a piecewise-uniform path planning. The whole plan of the path is divided into smaller segments. Either the linear velocity or the linear acceleration of each segment is constant. Similarly, either the angular velocity or the angular acceleration of each segment is constant. Because of the uniformness, the limitations on the velocities and accelerations can be easily satisfied. This approach can make use of any path planning algorithm that outputs a path consisting of straight lines, for example, rapidly-exploring random tree star algorithm and A star algorithm. Piecewise-uniform turning maneuvers are then added to the raw path. They include not only the turns from one straight segment to another but also a smooth starting curve and a smooth stopping curve to satisfy the robot’s pose at the beginning and the required pose at the end of the path. Two examples are presented, showing that the proposed method successfully generates appropriate paths and reduces the operation time of the mobile robot.