Path planning for nonholonomic mobile robots using artificial potential field method

摘要

The path planning method based on the artificial potential field(APF) has attracted many researchers for more than twenty years. However, most of them focused their attention to theoretical aspects and considered the robot a particle or rigid body without constraints. Therefore many achievements can not be applied directly to wheeled mobile robots with nonholonomic constraints. To apply the APF method on a wheeled mobile robot, we theoretically analyze two existing approaches and reveal their hidden failures in reaching the target and the unbalanced performances of path planning in different environments. A new method based on fuzzy rules has been proposed to solve these problems by modifying the control pattern or parameters in different situations. Simulation studies show that the proposed method can acquire better overall performance in various environments on the premise of reaching the target.