Sensor-based global planning for mobile robot navigation

The proposed algorithm integrates in a single planner the global motion planning and local obstacle avoidance capabilities. It efficiently guides the robot in a dynamic environment. This eliminates some of the traditional problems of planned architectures (model-plan-act scheme) while obtaining many of the qualities of behavior-based architectures. The computational efficiency of the method allows the planner to operate at high-rate sensor frequencies. This avoids the need for using both a collision-avoidance algorithm and a global motion planner for navigation in a cluttered environment. The method combines map-based and sensor-based planning operations to provide a smooth and reliable motion plan. Operating on a simple grid-based world model, the method uses a fast marching technique to determine a motion plan on a Voronoi extended transform extracted from the environment model. In addition to this real-time response ability, the method produces smooth and safe robot trajectories.