Control of probabilistic diffusion in motion planning

Abstract

The paper presents a method to control probabilistic diffusion in motion planning algorithms. The principle of the method is to use on line the results of a diffusion algorithm to describe the free space in which the planning takes place. Given that description, it makes the diffusion go faster in favoured directions. That way, if the free space appears as a small volume around a submanifold of a highly dimensioned configuration space, the method overcomes the usual limitations of diffusion algorithms and finds a solution quickly. The presented method is theoretically analyzed and experimentally compared to known motion planning algorithms. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.