A Feasible Algorithm for Planning a Continuous Sequence of Collision-Free Motions of a Manipulator

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a feasible motionplanning algorithm of robotic manipulator without any pre-processing for the manipulator and its obstacles. The algorithm selects a feasible sequence of collision-free motions fast while expanding a graph adaptively in the implicit configuration joint-space. In the configuration graph, each arc represents an angle difference of the manipulator joint and therefore some arc sequence represents a continuous sequence of robot motions. Thus the algorithm can make a continuous sequence of collision-free motions surely. Furthermore the algorithm expands the configuration graph in only space which is to be cluttered in the implicit configuration joint-space and also is needed to select a collision-free sequence between the initial and target positions/orientations. Thus the algorithm keeps the configuration graph with small size, and in result it selects fast a collision-free sequence from the configuration graph, whose shape is to be simple enough to move the manipulator in practical.