Shortest Path Planning for a Tethered Robot or an Anchored Cable

Conference · Mon Feb 22 00:00:00 EST 1999

OSTI ID:3877

Xavier, P G

We consider the problem of planning shortest paths for a tethered robot with a finite length tether in a 2D environment with polygonal obstacles. We present an algorithm that runs in time O((k{sub 1} + 1){sup 2}n{sup 4}) and finds the shortest path or correctly determines that none exists that obeys the constraints; here n is the number obstacle vertices, and k{sub 1} is the number loops in the initial configuration of the tether. The robot may cross its tether but nothing can cross obstacles, which cause the tether to bend. The algorithm applies as well for planning a shortest path for the free end of an anchored cable.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 3877
• Report Number(s): SAND99-0458C; TRN: AH200113%%51
• Resource Relation: Conference: 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Detroit, MI (US), 05/10/1999--05/15/1999; Other Information: PBD: 22 Feb 1999
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
ANCHORS
MOORINGS
ALGORITHMS
CABLES
PLANNING
ROBOTS
ROUTING
COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN