Planning smooth paths for mobile robots in an unknown environment

Abstract

This paper addresses the path planning problem for autonomous mobile robots operating in an unknown environment with obstacles. Paths are formed based on third-order Bezier splines and, then, are corrected on the move as a robot detects obstacles with its onboard sensors. During this correction, the initial path between two reference points is divided into two segments (described by Bezier splines) in such a way as to allow the robot to move at a safe distance from a detected obstacle along a smooth resultant trajectory. In this case, the use of smooth paths ensures a high levels of accuracy and velocity of mobile robots during their operation.