Online search of unknown terrains using a dynamical system-based path planning approach

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Authors
Sridharan, Karan
McNamee, Patrick
Nili Ahmadabadi, Zahra
Hudack, Jeffrey
Advisors
Issue Date
2022-09-06
Type
Article
Keywords
Autonomous robots , Path planning , Unpredictable search , Dynamical systems , Unknown environments
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Citation
Sridharan, K., McNamee, P., Nili Ahmadabadi, Z., & Hudack, J. (2022). Online search of unknown terrains using a dynamical system-based path planning approach. Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems: Theory and Applications, 106(1) doi:10.1007/s10846-022-01707-z
Abstract

Surveillance and exploration of large environments is a tedious task. In spaces with limited environmental cues, random-like search is an effective approach as it allows the robot to perform online coverage of environments using simple algorithm designs. One way to generate random-like scanning search is to use nonlinear dynamical systems to impart chaos into the searching robot’s controller. This will result in the generation of unpredictable yet deterministic trajectories, allowing designers to control the system and achieve a high scanning coverage of an area. However, the unpredictability comes at the cost of increased coverage time and a lack of scalability, both of which have been ignored by the state-of-the-art chaotic path planners. This work introduces a new, scalable technique that helps a robot to steer away from the obstacles and cover the entire search space in a short period of time. The technique involves coupling and manipulating two chaotic systems to reduce the coverage time and enable scanning of unknown environments with different online properties. Using this new technique resulted in an average 49% boost in the robot’s performance compared to the state-of-the-art planners. The overall search performance of the chaotic planner remained comparable to optimal systems while still ensuring unpredictable paths.

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Publisher
Springer Link
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Book Title
Series
Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems
Volume 106, No. 1
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
1573-0409
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