Implementation of BFA (Backtrack‐Free path planning Algorithm) for three‐dimensional workspaces and its application to path planning of multi manipulators

Abstract

SUMMARYTogether with a newly developed method for avoiding collisions between links themselves, the BFA (Backtrack-Free path planning Algorithm) has been implemented for calculating the paths of manipulators that are operated in three-dimensional workspaces. An approach to extending the BFA to an algorithm for calculating the paths of multiple manipulators cooperating to accomplish complicated tasks, in which multiple manipulators are considered as a single composite one with many links, is also discussed. The algorithm is backtrack-free and resolution-complete. Its computational volume is proportional to the total number of links and does not change drastically with the environments in which the manipulators are operated. Simulation results have demonstrated that the BFA allows efficient generation of paths for both single and multiple manipulators.