Pushing using compliance

This paper addresses the problem of maneuvering an object by pushing it through an environment with obstacles. Instead of only pushing the object through open spaces, we also allow it to use compliance, e.g. allowing it to slide along obstacle boundaries. The advantage of using compliance is twofold: compliance does not only extend the number of situations in which a push plan can be found, it also allows for simpler (i.e. less complicated) paths in many cases. Here, we present an approach based on the rapidly-exploring random tree (RRT) algorithm that, besides paths through the open space, exploits the power of compliance