Flexible needle insertion into viscoelastic tissue is modeled in this paper with a linear beam supported by virtual springs. Using this simplified model, the forward and inverse kinematics of the needle is solved analytically, providing a way for simulation and path planning in real-time. Using the inverse kinematics, the required needle basis trajectory can be computed for any desired needle t...

Safe and efficient path planning for mobile robots in large dynamic environments is still a challenging research topic. In order to plan collision-free trajectories, the time component of the path must be explicitly considered during the search. Furthermore, a precise planning near obstacles and in the vicinity of the robot is important. This results in a high computational burden of the trajec...

In this paper we address the problem of trajectory planning with imperfect state information. In many real-world domains, the position of a mobile agent cannot be known perfectly; instead, the agent maintains a probabilistic belief about its position. Planning in these domains requires computing the best trajectory through the space of possible beliefs. We show that planning in belief space can...

We describe a novel global path planning method for autonomous qualitative navigation in indoor environments. Global path planning operates on top of a qualitative map of the environment that describes variations in sensor behavior between adjacent regions in space. The method takes into consideration the global topology of the environment and applies a set of criteria that can minimize the err...

This paper addresses the problem of path plannrng using a dynamic vehicle model. Previous works which include a basic kinematic model generate paths that are only realistic at very low speed. By considering higher vehicle speed during navigation, the vehicle can significantly deviate from the planned trajectory. Consequently, the planned path becomes unusable for the mission achievement. So, to...

In this paper, a computationally effective trajectory generation algorithm of omnidirectional mobile robots is proposed. The algorithm plans a reference path based on Bézier curves, which meets obstacle avoidance. Then the algorithm solves the problem of motion planning for the robot to track the path in short travel time while satisfying dynamic constraint. Accelerations of the robot are compu...

The problem of planning safe kinematic approach trajectories for robotic capture of an uncontrolled rotating satellite is addressed, and two methods of trajectory planning are presented. The first method uses equations of orbital mechanics to plan a passive fly-by approach path for certain conditions of target satellite motion. The second method uses optimization techniques to plan an approach ...

Considering Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles (UAVs) the planning tasks mainly consist of finding paths between given waypoints with respect to given constraints. In this paper we developed a path planning system for flying UAVs (VTOLs and CTOLs) built upon Hexagonal grids which also supports simple dynamics (handling with speed). The planning system is additionally supported by a trajectory smoothi...

In this paper, a distributed approach to Model Predictive Control (MPC)-based trajectory planning for rotary-wing UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) communication network topologies under radio path loss constraints is proposed. The goal is to find trajectories that are safe with respect to grounding and collision, fuel efficient and satisfy criteria for communication such that the UAVs form chains ...

Abstract. This paper describes an algorithm for ”direct numerical integration” of the initial value Differential-Algebraic Inequalities (DAI) in a time stepping fashion using a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) method solver for detecting and satisfying active path constraints at each time step. The activation of a path constraint generally increases the condition number of the active disc...