Nonholonomic mobile robots - a new solution for path planning in changing environment

Presents theoretical analyses of different methods which can be used in online path generation for mobile robots with nonholonomic constraints in a partially known workspace. A new method is then introduced, which works very quickly and gives the optimal path in a complex environment. The algorithm of the presented method is based on A*-graph searching with the nodes placed in a discretized configuration space. This paper focuses on the analysis of different heuristic cost functions and introduces a new statement of this function. The presented method is equipped with procedures for fast path replanning-which is very useful in partially known workspaces. A series of simulation tests and experimental results of online control for a car-like robot are also discussed.