Integrated mobile robot motion planning and execution in changing indoor environments

This paper presents a real time approach for the integrated planning and execution of robot motion paths. Path planning is based on a virtual unsteady diffusion process, which is simulated online in a grid-based world model. This approach provides an elegant method of combining map-based and sensor-based planning operations. Necessary extensions of the basic procedure are introduced in order to adapt the planner to different types of mobile robots. An environmental representation using multiresolutional maps allows an efficient combination of local and global aspects of motion planning. A fast integrated cycle of sensing, planning and path execution enables the robot to react rapidly to environmental changes. Experiments performed with the mobile robot MACROBE demonstrate the simplicity and effectiveness of this approach