Narrow Passage Path Planning using Collision Constraint Interpolation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel framework for narrow passage path planning that decomposes environments into convex objects and interpolates collision constraints to improve feasibility and efficiency.

Contribution

It proposes a sequential constraint interpolation method that guides optimization in narrow passage path planning, addressing feasibility issues effectively.

Findings

Framework successfully finds feasible paths in complex environments.

Interpolation of collision constraints improves planning efficiency.

Demonstrated effectiveness through multiple examples.

Abstract

Narrow passage path planning is a prevalent problem from industrial to household sites, often facing difficulties in finding feasible paths or requiring excessive computational resources. Given that deep penetration into the environment can cause optimization failure, we propose a framework to ensure feasibility throughout the process using a series of subproblems tailored for narrow passage problem. We begin by decomposing the environment into convex objects and initializing collision constraints with a subset of these objects. By continuously interpolating the collision constraints through the process of sequentially introducing remaining objects, our proposed framework generates subproblems that guide the optimization toward solving the narrow passage problem. Several examples are presented to demonstrate how the proposed framework addresses narrow passage path planning problems.