Motion Planning for Multi-Segmented Robots in Complex Scenarios

Multi-segmented robots are predestined for autonomous or teleoperated inspection tasks in complex scenarios. As these systems have many degrees of freedom (DOF), their redundancy can be used to solve kinematic deadlocks. Such deadlocks can occur due to collisions in a cluttered environment or due to the wish to drive complex maneuvers that need a high-dimensional control vector. As an example, a complex maneuver can be the following: "Position particular segments at a given position while driving the robot forward". This paper analyzes inspection tasks for general multi-segmented robots and defines maneuvers and poses that are relevant for the motion planner. The multi-segmented robot platform KAIRO-II is presented. This robot is capable of performing such an inspection task. The mechanical and electrical design and the integrated sensor systems of the platform meet the requirements for navigation in complex scenarios. A closed-loop control scheme uses detected sensor information to drive predefined maneuvers and poses and to manage motion planning strategies.