A global motion planner that learns from experience for autonomous mobile robots

A new technique for enhancing global path planning for mobile robots working in partially known as indoor environments is presented in this paper. The method is based on a graph approach that adapts the cost of the paths by incorporating travelling time from real experiences. The approach uses periodical measurements of time and position reached by the robot while moving to the goal to modify the costs of the branches. Consequently, the search of a feasible path from a static global map in dynamic environments is more realistic than employing a distance metric. Our approach has been tested in simulation as well on an autonomous robot. Results from both simulation and real experiences are discussed. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.