Optimal Motion Planning for Collision Avoidance of Mobile Robots in Non-stationary Environments

An optimal control formulation of the problem of collision avoidance of mobile robots moving in general terrains containing moving obstscles is presented. A dynamic model of the mobile robot and the dynamic constraints are derived. Collision avoidance is guaranteed if the minimum distance between the robot and the objects is nonzero. A nominal trajectory is assumed to be known from off-line planning. The main idea is to change the velocity along the nominal trajectory so that collisions are avoided. Furthermore, time consistency with the nominal plan is desirable. A numerical solution of the optimization problem is obtained. A perturbation control type of approach is used to update the optimal plan. Simulation results verify the value of the proposed strategy.