Motion Planning of a Snake-Like Robot Using an Optimized Harmonic Potential Field

Abstract

Snake-like robots have gained popularity in the last three decades for their ability to utilize several gaits in order to navigate through di erent terrains. They are analogous in morphology to snakes, tentacles, and elephant trunks. We propose a novel method of navigating a snake-like robot based on the Harmonic Field with Optimized Boundary Conditions (HFOBC) and a boundary following algorithm. We apply the HFOBC navigation function using a number of fictitious charges equally spaced on each link. These charges actively follow the potential field towards the target. Futhermore, a generalized mathematical model for an n-link snake-like robot based on Lagrange formulation has also been proposed in this paper.

Path Planning in Structured Environment using Harmonic Potential Fields via Block Iterative Method

“…For simplicity, let matrix A be decomposed into (6) where D is a block diagonal matrix, L is a lower triangular matrix and U is an upper triangular matrix. Thus, the corresponding Gauss-Seidel and SOR iterative schemes in matrix form can be written as (7) (8) Note that, if ω, equation (8) simplifies to the standard Gauss-Seidel scheme (7). The iteration process of equations (7) and (8) continues until the convergence criterion is satisfied, i.e.…”

“…Moreover, they offer a complete path planning algorithm, and paths derived from them are generally smooth. In the past, an exact method based on the HPFs were applied in many area of researches including ship navigation [5], trajectory control [6], space robot path planning [7], navigation of snake-like robot [8], UAV motion planning [9], marine vessel path planning [10], 3D motion planning for UAV [11,12], space exploration [13], etc. In robot navigation problem, the HPFs were successfully applied in various types of environments [14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”