Simulation Of Sensor-based Robot And Human Motion Planning

Recent research on sensor-based motion planning has produced theory and algorithms for motion planning for robots operating in an environment with unknown obstacles. The implementation of such systems requires constructing a robot, sensors, and a complex control computer environment - a time-consuming and costly undertaking. To provide a necessary bridge between theory and implementation - to test algorithmic solutions and to cut down on the number of experimental alternatives - a computer simulation system for modeling sensor-based motion planning has been developed. The system provides means for modeling various robots, sensor systems, and sets of obstacles in the robot environment, testing a variety of two- and threedimensional motion planning algorithms, and testing human performance in motion planning. It also provides a real-time animation of the robot motion. The simulation is realistic in that only information from the assumed sensor media is used as input to a motion planning algorithm. These features make it a unique system for simulating robot planning and control in an uncertain environment.