Assessment of Artificial Potential Field methods for navigation of planetary rovers

The lack of research into Artificial Potential Field (APF) applications for planetary exploration drove the authors to put forward the following question: Can APF methods be used for autonomous navigation (path planning and control) of a surface robot in realistic planetary exploration scenarios? In order to answer that question, this paper presents a comprehensive review of different APF methods under a planetary exploration point of view. Finally, realistic scenarios where APF methods could outperform other navigation techniques are proposed, the most suitable approaches for these scenarios analysed, and some initial results provided.