Path planning for robotic manipulators using expanded bubbles of free C-space

Abstract

This paper presents a novel method for using volumetric information in the C-space for generating collision-free paths for robotic manipulators in the presence of obstacles. The method is based on the RRT paradigm, i.e., incrementally building trees in C-space in order to connect the initial configuration to the final one. Bubbles of free C-space are used within a carefully modified extend procedure to add lengthy edges to the tree. In particular, we propose an expanded version of the bubble, which enables even more efficient exploration. The method is validated and compared to other planning algorithms within a simulation study that includes several types of manipulators and obstacle scenarios.