We present a new approach to path planning, called the \Ariadne's clew algorithm". It is designed to nd paths in high-dimensional continuous spaces and applies to robots with many degrees of freedom in static, as well as dynamic environments | ones where obstacles may move. The Ariadne's clew algorithm comprises two sub-algorithms, called search and explore, applied in an interleaved manner. explore builds a representation of the accessible space while search looks for the target. Both are posed as optimization problems. We describe a real implementation of the algorithm to plan paths for a six degrees of freedom arm in a dynamic environment where another six degrees of freedom arm is used as a moving obstacle. Experimental results show that a path is found in about one second without any pre-processing.
Ariadne's clew algorithm REF considers the initial configuration as a landmark.
The Ariadne's Clew Algorithm
Journal Of Artificial Intelligence Research, Volume 9, pages 295-316, 1998
Computer Science