Continuous-curvature trajectory planning for manoeuvrable non-holonomic robots

Inria a Rh^ one-Alpes & Gravir b Lab. Abstract This article deals with trajectory planning for non-holonomic mobile robots. We call trajectory the association of a path, which is the geometrical restriction of the motion, and of a time schedule given by a time table, a velocity or an acceleration proole. The robots considered are non-holonomic, as their motion's direction is limited by the robot's position. However, two types of robot are considered: car-like vehicles have a lower bounded turning radius, while manoeuvrable robots do not. This article shows that optimal paths for car-like vehicles correspond to optimal trajectories for manoeuvrable robots, and presents how these paths can thus be followed by manoeuvrable robots faster than paths made of line segments, along which these robots have to stop at each direction's discontinuity. Experimental results obtained using such paths for manoeuvrable robots are then provided. Acknowledgments | The work presented in this paper was realized during A. Scheuer's post-doctoral Research Fellowship, funded by ARC1/94 project's manpower budget, in the \Vision and Control" Strategic Research Program of the Nanyang Technological University, as a collaboration between this university and the French institute INRIA. Abstract This article deals with trajectory planning for non-holonomic mobile robots. We call trajectory the association of a path, which is the geometrical restriction of the motion, and of a time schedule given by a time table, a velocity or an acceleration proole. The robots considered are non-holonomic, as their motion's direction is limited by the robot's position. However, two types of robot are considered: car-like vehicles have a lower bounded turning radius, while manoeuvrable robots do not. This article shows that optimal paths for car-like vehicles correspond to optimal trajectories for manoeuvrable robots, and presents how these paths can thus be followed by manoeuvrable robots faster than paths made of line segments, along which these robots have to stop at each direction's discontinuity. Experimental results obtained using such paths for manoeuvrable robots are then provided.