RI: Small: A Paradigm for Motion Planning Based on Parameterization of Free Space

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

Motion planning is an important part of robotics research that enables robots to move without colliding into obstacles. This project focuses on a new paradigm for motion planning in cluttered environments in which robots and obstacles are represented as unions of ellipsoids, rather than the traditional approach of using polyhedral, which makes it more efficient to calculate potential collisions during planning. In addition to the scientific goals of the project, a longstanding outreach activity with Baltimore Polytechnic High School is part of the project. Two students from this high school per year will spend their "research practicum" in the PI's laboratory during their senior years. In terms of detailed scientific questions, this project builds on the fact that the set of rigid-body motions that cause two ellipsoids to be in collision can be parameterized in closed form, thereby facilitating the sampling of collision-free configurations outside of these sets rather than wasting computational resources on sampling, evaluating whether collisions occur, and throwing away large numbers of samples. This is particularly important in so-called "narrow-passage" problems. This approach therefore has the potential to dramatically improve the performance of motion planning algorithms.