Path planning for autonomous surface vessels based on improved artificial fish swarm algorithm: a further study

This paper presents a modified artificial potential field (APF) based method for an Autonomous Surface Vessel (ASV) obstacles avoidance in a dynamic riverine environment. The APF method is combined with a balance control scheme to achieve river tracking and obstacles avoidance simultaneously. The APF method is further modified modification to comply with marine collision avoidance regulations (COLREGs). The overtaking and head-on scenarios are simulated in MATLAB platform. The simulation results are compared with other APF methods to prove that the proposed method is efficient for the ASV riverine navigation.

A distributed improved robust integral line-of-sight (RILOS) guidance-based sliding mode controller is designed for multiple underactuated autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) to perform cooperative maritime search operations. First, a parallel circle search pattern is designed based on the detection range of ASVs, which can provide the reference formation shape. Second, an improved RILOS method is presented by introducing an integral term into the improved robust LOS method, which can counteract the disadvantageous effect of the unknown sideslip angle and kinematic discrepancy simultaneously. Third, distributed improved RILOS guidance is presented by integrating the extended second-order consensus algorithm into the improved RILOS method; then, the desired heading angle and desired velocity are generated for the control system simultaneously. Finally, the fuzzy logic system is integrated into the sliding mode control (SMC) method to approximate the unknown nonlinear function; then, a distributed improved RILOS guidance-based SMC controller is presented for multiple ASVs. The closed-loop signals are proved to be stable by the Lyapunov theory. The effectiveness of the presented method is verified by multiple simulations.

Path planning of unmanned surface vessel in an unknown environment based on improved D*Lite algorithm

This paper presents a new method to design the shortest smooth 3D path for multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) to visit multiple targets. This path planning method can be separated into the target assignment problem and path designing problem. For the target assignment problem, we compare the genetic algorithm and ant colony optimization algorithm to get target sequence for each AUV with less distance cost. For the given target sequence for each AUVs, the path designing problem is to design shortest smooth path for visiting each target with constraint of G <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sup> continuity. This paper designs 3D Bezier curves by selecting the control points along the incoming and out-going heading direction. Each two-target segment has a set of discrete in-coming and out-going heading direction. For multi-target path planning, the in-coming heading direction and the out-going heading direction at each target have to be the same and the shortest path is selected via back propagation algorithm. It is proved that the combined 3D cubic Bezier curves ensure G <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sup> continuity along the entire multi-target path. Back propagation algorithm is applied to find the shortest curve sequence for multiple targets.

This paper presents a novel autonomous surface vessel (ASV), called Roboat II for urban transportation. Roboat II is capable of accurate simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), receding horizon tracking control and estimation, and path planning. Roboat II is designed to maximize the internal space for transport, and can carry payloads several times of its own weight. Moreover, it is capable of holonomic motions to facilitate transporting, docking, and inter-connectivity between boats. The proposed SLAM system receives sensor data from a 3D LiDAR, an IMU, and a GPS, and utilizes a factor graph to tackle the multi-sensor fusion problem. To cope with the complex dynamics in the water, Roboat II employs an online nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC), where we experimentally estimated the dynamical model of the vessel in order to achieve superior performance for tracking control. The states of Roboat II are simultaneously estimated using a nonlinear moving horizon estimation (NMHE) algorithm. Experiments demonstrate that Roboat II is able to successfully perform online mapping and localization, plan its path and robustly track the planned trajectory in the confined river, implying that this autonomous vessel holds the promise on potential applications in transporting humans and goods in many of the waterways nowadays.

Path planning is a core problem of the mobile robot navigation technology. However, few path plan methods that have been proposed consider the path smoothness and the robot attitude in the path. In this paper, a novel path planning method is proposed which considers three optimizing targets, including the path length, the path smoothness and the distance between the path and the obstacles. Firstly, a localization method which the path planning method relies on is explained. Secondly, a path planning model considering the path smoothness and the robot posture is discussed in detail. Thirdly, a solution based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is discussed. Fourthly, simulation results are shown and analyzed. At last, conclusion and future work are provided.

Aiming at the path planning for coal mine detection robot in unknown static environment, a path planning method is propounded which couples behavioural dynamics with rolling scan information. Firstly, the method of sub-target's choice is provided using heuristic function according to the rolling scan information L it is local environment information L which is obtained by sensors. Then path planning is divided into trending to target behaviour and obstacle avoidance behaviour L their behaviour state and behaviour pattern dynamics modes are established L and then one autonomous local path planning technology is implemented using behaviour dynamics mode in a single rolling scan region. Connecting a series of local paths tandem according to continuity, the global path planning is accomplished ultimately. The method has a simple principle and low calculating burden L smooth path and high applied value. The method's efficiency and adaptability is verified by simulation experiment. (5 pages)

A cuspidal robot can move from one inverse kinematics (IK) solution to another without crossing a singularity. Multiple industrial robots are cuspidal. They tend to have a beautiful mechanical design, but they pose path-planning challenges. A task-space path may have a valid IK solution for each point along the path, but a continuous joint-space path may depend on the choice of the IK solution or even be infeasible. This article presents new analysis, path planning, and optimization methods to enhance the utility of cuspidal robots. We first demonstrate an efficient method to identify cuspidal robots and show, for the first time, that the ABB GoFa and certain robots with three parallel joint axes are cuspidal. We then propose a new path-planning method for cuspidal robots by finding all IK solutions for each point along a task-space path and constructing a graph to connect each vertex corresponding to an IK solution. Graph edges have a weight based on the optimization metric, such as minimizing joint velocity. The optimal feasible path is the shortest path in the graph. This method can find nonsingular paths as well as smooth paths that pass through singularities. Finally, we incorporate this path-planning method into a path optimization algorithm. Given a fixed workspace toolpath, we optimize the offset of the toolpath in the robot base frame while ensuring continuous joint motion. Code examples are available in a publicly accessible repository.

This paper is introduced to be the obstacle recognition, path planning and oscillating control for an automobile crane system on-line. We studied the autonomous mobile overhead traveling crane so for. In particular, the research of obstacle recognition, path plan and oscillating control is carried out. For on-line obstacle recognition, the obstacle recognition system using the ultrasonic sensor(USS) is built. And on-line partial obstacle recognition of the conveyance environment is carried out using this obstacle recognition system. For an on-line path planning, the path plan system which it could process with the information of transfer object position and the obstacle position that is recognized by obstacle recognition system in a short time was built. The feedback transfer control system in consideration of oscillating control is built. Finally, the usefulness of the system that these were integrated is proved by an experiment. Keywords-component; Automation, Mobile Robot, Overhead Traveling Crane, On-line Path Planning, Oscillating control. I. INTORODUCTION OF THIS PAPER An overhead traveling crane system has an advantage of selecting 3rd-dimentionally and freely a transfer path achieving a freedom thereof. Therefore, automation and autonomy thereof is desired to increase the operational freedom of FMS(Flexible Manufacturing System). In the present, the overhead traveling crane is mainly operated by an expert operator to ensure safety during transferring. The development of an autonomous mobile overhead traveling crane is necessary for problem of the lack of skillful operators or the problem of work efficiency. For the reason, the results of research about an autonomous mobile overhead traveling crane system are presented by us[1],[2],[4],[5]. In particular, our research for path planning was conducted from various points of view[1],[2],[4],[5]. In a past research, we has made an experimental apparatus of on overhead traveling crane shown in Fig.1, and an autonomous mobile traveling crane system with function of the obstacle recognition, path planning on-line and oscillation control has been constructed. In this visual and planning system, when there was the change of an obstacle conveying, it was necessary for the path plan to be handled in a short time and had a problem with on-line processing in a conventional study. And the path planning system is constructed[2], [4],[5]. We propose the path-planning system that can be quickly carried out with an easy algorithm on-line. The proposed online path planning system is built using two-dimensions pathplanning algorithm[3] to perform a three-dimensional path planning[4],[5]. In this proposed system, path planning can be derived by information of target position and any obstacle position that is recognized by an ultrasonic sensor (USS). This on-line path plan method performs a path plan by the partial information of a transportation environment recognized by USS of the obstacle recognition system during transfer. The path plan of the overhead traveling crane is constructed to the goal position by repeating a suggested process (algorithm). Furthermore, the inspection of the proposed path planning method was evaluated from a view point of a qualitative and a quantitative[5]. In the present condition, the transfer control system in consideration of oscillating control was a feed-forward control system which using the notch filter. Therefore this control system had the problem that oscillating control was not completed when there was remains vibration at the time of change of a path. In this paper, 2 degrees of freedom control system which added the feedback control system to the present control system are designed. And the purpose of this research is to verify the usefulness of the on-line obstacle avoidance of the proposed autonomous mobile overhead traveling crane system. 2nd International Symposium on Computer, Communication, Control and Automation (3CA 2013) © 2013. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 468 Fig. 2 Obstacle recognition system

Numerous researches have been done to develop ASV (Autonomous Surface Vessel) collision avoidance systems. Most of the systems used static methods but did not apply a knowledge base where solutions can be reused and adapted to solve a new case. In this paper, an algorithm of autonomous collision avoidance is proposed considering steering dynamic for ASV. The process of this learning method is to recall the FCBR (Fuzzy Case Base Reasoning) containing basic expert knowledge in the form of stored cases. The solutions will be retrieved from the knowledge base to find a NH (New Heading) command for collision avoidance. Moreover, to execute the NH, a design of adaptive fuzzy ASV heading control system based on command filter is conducted considering the input saturation constraints and external disturbances. T-S fuzzy logic is employed to approximate nonlinear uncertainties existing in the heading control system adopting the MLP (Minimal Learning Parameter) technique. Finally, simulations prove that the method is effective to retrieve the past similar cases for the new collision avoidance situation and give its solution for ASV to track adjusted heading.

A client-server network is one of the most important topics in a computer network. In this work, a real-time computer control system is designed based on the Client-Server Model for a Multi-Agent Mobile Robot System (CSM-MAMRS) and is applied to a building that consists of (N) floors and uses one mobile robot on each floor that has specific actions in different types of environments. The new proposed CSM-MAMRS consists of four layers. The first stage manages the network communication for each agent. The second stage solves the major problems of path planning by using a proposed hybrid algorithm that combines the Rapidly Exploring Random Tree Star (RRT*) and the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms in order to provide the shortest and smoothest path with collision avoidance between the starting and the target points in a static and dynamic robot environments are used.. In the third stage, a velocity planner controller is based on an inverse kinematic mobile robot model. In the fourth stage, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP is used to send velocity values to real mobile robots via the Wireless Network Control Administration. The simulation results and experimental works successfully achieved to significant improvement in real-time when using three missions of three mobile robots on different static map floors in the building. The maximum tracking pose errors for three robots in the static enviormnets are 0.39 cm, 0.02 cm, 0.32 cm respectively, but the maximum tracking pose error in the dynamic environments are 2.94 cm and 2.8 cm only for two mobile robots along the maximum distance of 250 cm. Index Terms— Real-time computer control, Mobile robot, Multi-agent system, Path planning algorithms.

This article focuses on achieving efficient and safe navigation for robots in dynamic and unpredictable environments. We propose a hierarchical path planning framework that integrates global path planning with local dynamic obstacle avoidance. This framework aims to quickly plan a collision-free, shortest, and safest path for the robot while adapting the navigation path according to uncertainties in the operating environment. Global path planning is conducted using the improved gray wolf optimization algorithm (IGWO), trajectory tracking is achieved through a pure pursuit control algorithm, and a dynamic switching mechanism based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) significantly enhances the navigation performance of the robotic system. The effectiveness of this approach has been verified through simulations and experiments. Simulation results indicate that in global path planning, the IGWO algorithm achieves faster convergence compared to algorithms, such as GWO-MP and GWO-CS. The planned path lengths are reduced by approximately 4.01% and 2.27%, respectively, and the fitness values are decreased by 4.78% and 1.9%, demonstrating superior path planning performance. For local dynamic obstacle avoidance, both single-robot and multirobot systems successfully avoided obstacles in multiple experiments. Finally, physical experiments conducted in various complex scenarios show that both single-robot and multirobot systems can effectively execute global planning and respond to unexpected obstacles. These results further demonstrate the method’s wide applicability and robust performance across diverse complex environments.

Abstract. Urban traffic congestion, obstacle avoidance, and driving efficiency are the challenges faced by autonomous-vehicle path-planning technology in cities. The traditional artificial potential field (APF) algorithm is insufficient to meet the requirements of efficiency and safety in path planning, as it easily gets trapped in local optima when dealing with complex environments. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel AS-IAPF path-planning algorithm to more efficiently enhance the target reachability of autonomous vehicles in complex traffic environments. Firstly, this paper analyzes and elucidates the macroscopic traffic model, achieving effective modeling of dynamic traffic flow stability based on Lyapunov stability theorem and a classical 1D flow model. Thus, the threshold discriminant formula for traffic element stability is obtained. Secondly, based on the aforementioned threshold discriminant formula, a new AS-IAPF algorithm is proposed. The algorithm mainly includes two aspects: firstly, by pre-generating initial paths and introducing a Gaussian oscillation coefficient of force fields, it avoids the algorithm falling into local optima; secondly, by using the aforementioned driving stability threshold discriminant formula as a dimensional adjustment for adaptively improving and adjusting the strength coefficient of the AS-APF repulsive field, the algorithm further improves the efficiency of path planning. Finally, the algorithm is subjected to joint simulations of 2D and 3D scenarios of different types. The research results show that the AS-IAPF algorithm outperforms other algorithms of the same type with respect to comprehensive performance based on multiple 2D scenario simulation experiments. In the 3D simulation experiments of three different typical traffic scenarios, the proposed algorithm can drive autonomous vehicles to effectively perform corresponding obstacle avoidance actions based on the actual traffic scenarios ahead, ultimately achieving safe obstacle avoidance. The path-planning method proposed in this paper can enhance driving efficiency while considering the safety and stability of vehicles, providing a promising approach and reference for the path planning of autonomous vehicles.

Autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) need to dynamically re-plan paths online to avoid newly detected obstacles and no-fly zones. Existing 3D path planning methods are either too computationally intensive for online use or have practical limitations for actual applications. We propose a new method based on visibility graphs that is both computationally efficient for online use and is suitable for actual applications. We consider the 3D space to be composed of many 2D planes that all pass through the current position of the UAV and the destination point. Finding the shortest collision-free path in each plane is a 2D path planning problem which can be solved by using existing visibility graph algorithms. We then collect all the shortest paths generated from each 2D plane and find the shortest path in the whole 3D space. We present the results of the proposed 3D path planning algorithm for two cases to demonstrate that the proposed method is effective.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to put forward a rolling assistant robot with two rolling modes, and the multi-mode rolling motion strategy with path planning algorithm, which is suitable to this multi-mode mobile robot, is proposed based on chessboard-shaped grid division (CGD).Design/methodology/approachBased on the kinematic analysis and motion properties of the mobile parallel robot, the motion strategy based on CGD path planning algorithm of a mobile robot with two rolling modes moving to a target position is divided into two parts, which are local self-motion planning and global path planning. In the first part, the mobile parallel robot can move by switching and combining the two rolling modes; and in the second part, the specific algorithm of the global path planning is proposed according to the CGD of the moving ground.FindingsThe assistant robot, which is a novel 4-RSR mobile parallel robot (where R denotes a revolute joint and S denotes a spherical joint) integrating operation and rolling locomotion (Watt linkage rolling mode and 6R linkage rolling mode), can work as a moving spotlight or worktable. A series of simulation and prototype experiment results are presented to verify the CGD path planning strategy of the robot, and the performance of the path planning experiments in simulations and practices shows the validation of the path planning analysis.Originality/valueThe work presented in this paper is a further exploration to apply parallel mechanisms with two rolling modes to the field of assistant rolling robots by proposing the CGD path planning strategy. It is also a new attempt to use the specific path planning algorithm in the field of mobile robots for operating tasks.