An approach for real-time motion planning of an inchworm robot in complex steel bridge environments
David Pagano, Dikai Liu · Robotica · 2016
SUMMARY Path planning can be difficult and time consuming for inchworm robots especially when operating in complex 3D environments such as steel bridges. Confined areas may prevent a robot from extensively searching the environment by limiting its mobility. An approach for real-time path planning is presented. This approach first uses the concept of line-of-sight (LoS) to find waypoints from the start pose to the end node. It then plans smooth, collision-free motion for a robot to move between waypoints using a 3D-F 2 algorithm. Extensive simulations and experiments are conducted in 2D and 3D scenarios to verify the approach.