Sensor-based motion planning for path tracking and obstacle avoidance of robotic vehicles with nonholonomic constraints

Abstract

This article presents a sensor-based motion planning method for ro botic vehicles with nonholonomic constraints. With the given waypoints, the instantaneous motion to follow the waypoints is calculated as the turning radius through the geometric path tracking method. By generating the turning radius larger than the minimum turning radius, the motion constraints on the vehicle are satisfied during navigation. And the vehicle is assumed to be equipped with a two-dimensional range sensor, allowing it to avoid obstacles within its sensing range, thus giving it virtual force. Then the turning radius for avoiding an obstacle, which is inversely proportional to the virtual force, is calculated. By integrating the geometric path tracking method and the sensor-based obstacle avoidance method, the vehicle follows the waypoints and avoids unexpected obstacles while it considers the motion constraints. The simulation results of the path tracking only and the path tracking and obstacle avoidance with the given waypoints show the performance of the proposed method.