A harmonic potential field approach for navigating a rigid, nonholonomic robot in a cluttered environment

701 This paper demonstrates the ability of the harmonic potential field (HPF) planning approach to generate a provably-correct, constrained, well-behaved trajectory for a rigid, nonholonomic robot (a tractor-trailer robot is not rigid) in a stationary, cluttered environment. This is accomplished using a closed loop control scheme that is inspired by model predictive control (MPC). The scheme is realized using a synchronizing signal derived from the HPF along with a procedure for inverting the process the robot is using for actuating motion. Performance proofs as well as simulation results of the suggested planner are supplied.