Smooth Path Planning in Constrained Environments

In this paper we describe a novel path planning approach for mobile robots operating in indoor environments. In such scenarios, robots must be able to maneuver in crowded spaces, partially filled with static and dynamic obstacles (such as people). Our approach produces smooth, complex maneuvers over large distances through the use of an anytime graph search algorithm applied to a novel multi-resolution state lattice, where the resolution is adapted based on both environmental characteristics and task characteristics. In addition, we present a novel approach for generating fast globally optimal trajectories in constrained spaces (i.e. rooms connected via doors and hallways). This approach exploits offline precomputation to provide extremely efficient online performance and is applicable to a wide range of both indoor and outdoor navigation scenarios. By combining an anytime, multi-resolution lattice-based search algorithm with our precomputation technique, globally optimal trajectories in up to four dimensions (2D position, heading and velocity) are obtained in real-time.