# RRT-CS: A free-collision planner for capsule-like SCORBOT by iterated learning

**Authors:** Hung Nguyen, Thanh Phuong Nguyen, Song Hung Nguyen, Ha Quang Thinh Ngo

PMC · DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0323045 · 2025-05-19

## TL;DR

This paper introduces an improved RRT algorithm combined with visual servoing for the SCORBOT robot to navigate unknown environments efficiently.

## Contribution

The novel contribution is an enhanced RRT algorithm with visual servoing for collision-free path planning in unknown environments.

## Key findings

- Planning time increases proportionally with scenario complexity.
- Trajectory smoothing accounts for less than 10% of processing time.
- RRT-based profile generation takes two-thirds of the total processing time.

## Abstract

In this study, we present an enhanced Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (RRT) algorithm integrated with a visual servoing technique for recognizing unknown environments. The robotic platform utilized is the SCORBOT-ER-VII, which consists of five links, servo motors, gearboxes, and an end-effector. Several target objects are used to define the initial position, obstacles, and destination. To evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of our approach, we conducted both numerical simulations and hardware experiments across three test scenarios, ranging from obstacle-free environments to complex obstacle configurations. The results indicate that planning time increases proportionally with scenario complexity. The trajectory smoothing process accounts for less than 10% of the total processing time, while path shortening constitutes one-third, and RRT-based profile generation comprises the remaining two-thirds. These findings clearly demonstrate the efficiency of our approach in terms of computational time, making it well-suited for real-world applications.

## Full-text entities

- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Figures

50 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12088686/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12088686