Time-optimal motion planning of skid-steer mobile robots in the presence of obstacles

Addresses a problem of time-optimal motion planning of skid-steer mobile robots amidst obstacles. Due to nonholonomic constraints, actuator constraints, and state constraints by obstacle avoidance, the planning problem is a complicated one. In this study, the problem is divided into two sub-problems: (1) time-optimization of trajectory along specified path, (2) search for the optimal path, to alleviate the difficulties of the original problem. Then two methods to solve the problems are proposed, using an idea of path parameter and parametrization by B-spline function. Finally, quasi-optimal solutions for the original problem are obtained by combining the two algorithms. A simulation result shows an effectiveness of the proposed motion planner