Collision-Free Path Planning by Using Nonperiodic B-Spline Curves

Abstract

This paper presents a method and an algorithm for the planning of collision-free paths through obstacles for robots end-effectors or autonomously guided vehicles. Fifth-order nonperiodic B-spline curves are chosen for this purpose. The main ideas are twofold: first, to avoid collision by moving around obstacles from the less blocking sides; and second, to assign two control points to all vertices of the control polygon. This method guarantees the generation of paths which have C3 continuity everywhere and satisfy the collision-free requirement. In addition, the obstacles can be of any shape, and the computational complexity and difficulty are relatively low. A computer code is developed for the implementation of this method. Case studies are given for illustration.