Iterated forecast and planning algorithm to steer and drive a mobile robot in the presence of multiple moving objects

Abstract

This paper presents an algorithm which leads a mobile robot to its destination in an environment where multiple obstacles are moving around. The movement of each obstacle is forecasted under the assumption that it moves with a piecewise constant velocity. Based on the forecast, a feasible path for a robot is searched in (x,y,t) space by a heuristic method. The robot follows feasible path for a while. This path is composed of straight lines and circular curves. To accommodate the actual changes in the obstacles' velocity against the forecast, the forecast and path searching is iterated frequently while the robot is moving to the goal. This paper examines the behavior obtained by different experimental conditions in the computer simulations.