Safe Path Planning Algorithms for Mobile Robots Based on Probabilistic Foam

The planning of safe paths is an important issue for autonomous robot systems. The Probabilistic Foam method (PFM) is a planner that guarantees safe paths bounded by a sequence of structures called bubbles that provides safe regions. This method performs the planning by covering the free configurati...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Luís B. P. Nascimento, Dennis Barrios-Aranibar, Vitor G. Santos, Diego S. Pereira, William C. Ribeiro, Pablo J. Alsina
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
Series:Sensors
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/12/4156
Description
Summary:The planning of safe paths is an important issue for autonomous robot systems. The Probabilistic Foam method (PFM) is a planner that guarantees safe paths bounded by a sequence of structures called bubbles that provides safe regions. This method performs the planning by covering the free configuration space with bubbles, an approach analogous to a breadth-first search. To improve the propagation process and keep the safety, we present three algorithms based on Probabilistic Foam: Goal-biased Probabilistic Foam (GBPF), Radius-biased Probabilistic Foam (RBPF), and Heuristic-guided Probabilistic Foam (HPF); the last two are proposed in this work. The variant GBPF is fast, HPF finds short paths, and RBPF finds high-clearance paths. Some simulations were performed using four different maps to analyze the behavior and performance of the methods. Besides, the safety was analyzed considering the new propagation strategies.
ISSN:1424-8220