Tight Maneuvering for Path Planning of Hyper-Redundant Manipulators in Three-Dimensional Environments

An effective path-planning algorithm in three-dimensional (3D) environments based on a geometric approach for redundant/hyper-redundant manipulators are presented in this paper. The method works within confined spaces cluttered with obstacles in real-time. Using potential fields in 3D, a middle path is generated for point robots. Beams are generated tangent to the path points, which constructs a basis for preparing a collision-free path for the manipulator. Then, employing a simply control strategy without interaction between the links, the motion planning is achieved by advancing the end-effector of the manipulator through narrow terrains while keeping each link’s joints on this path until the end-effector reaches the goal. The method is simple, robust and significantly increases maneuvering ability of the manipulator in 3D environments compared to existing methods as illustrated with examples.