Path Planning in a Mobile Robot

Abstract

This chapter presents the development and implementation of three approaches that contribute to solving the mobile robot path planning problems in dynamic and static environments. The algorithms include some items regarding the implementation of on-line and off-line situations in an environment with static and mobile obstacles. A first technique involves the use of genetic algorithms where a fitness function and the emulation of the natural evolution are used to find a free-collision path. The second and third techniques consider the use of potential fields for path planning using two different ways. Brief descriptions of the techniques and experimental setup used to test the algorithms are also included. Finally, the results applying the algorithms using different obstacle configurations are presented and discussed.