Complete coverage algorithm based on linked smooth spiral paths for mobile robots

This paper presents an on-line complete-coverage path planning algorithm for mobile robots based on approximate cellular decomposition, which abstracts the target environment using grid. Most existing grid-based coverage algorithms have a common problem of constrained mobility which degrades the efficiency of the coverage task by inducing zigzag like path. In this paper, we propose a new complete coverage path generation algorithm, linked-smooth-spiral-path (LSSP), which removes the constraint on mobility by adopting a high-resolution grid-map representation of the environment and a cardinal-spline curve-model to generate a smooth spiral coverage path. We define a new performance measure for coverage tasks, which quantifies the smoothness of the coverage path. Simulation results demonstrate the improved coverage performance of the proposed algorithm compared to other existing grid-based coverage algorithms.