Geometry for robot path planning

Abstract

SUMMARY There have been many interesting recent results in the area of geometrical methods for path planning in robotics. So it seems very timely to attempt a description of mathematical developments surrounding very elementary engineering tasks. Even with such limited scope, there is too much to cover in detail. Inevitably, our knowledge and personal preferences have a lot to do with what is emphasised, included, or left out. Part I is introductory, elementary in tone, and important for understanding the need for geometrical methods in path planning. Part II describes the results on geometrical constructions that imitate well-known constructions from classical approximation theory. Part III reviews a class of methods where classical criteria are extended to curves in Riemannian manifolds, including several recent mathematical results that have not yet found their way into the literature.