Real-time local path planning for mobile robots

This paper presents a path planning algorithm for autonomous navigation of nonholonomic mobile robots in complex environment. The irregular contour of obstacles is represented by segments. The goal of the robot is to move towards a known target while avoiding obstacles. The velocity constraints, kinematic robot model and nonholonomic constraint are considered in the problem. The optimal path planning problem is formulated as a constrained receding horizon planning problem and the trajectory is obtained by solving an optimal control problem with constraints. Local minima are avoided by choosing intermediate objectives based on the real time environment.