# US 10,310,512 B2 · Path planning method for mobile robots

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- Number: US 10,310,512 B2
- Document ID: US10310512B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/305,507
- Filed: 2016-10-08
- Published: 2018-07-26
- Granted: 2019-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2016-10-08
- Assignees: Zhejiang Guozi Robot Technology Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Zhejiang Guozi Robot Technology Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Kai Chen; Yikun Tao; Xinfeng Du; Jizhong Shen; Lingfen Zhu; Hongbo Zheng; Xia Wang; Xudong Mi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10310512B2

## CPC

- G05D 1/0287: {involving a plurality of land vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling (traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00, particularly anticollision systems G08G1/16)}
- G01C 21/20: Instruments for performing navigational calculations (G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence)
- G05D 1/00: Control of position, course, altitude or attitude of land, water, air or space vehicles, e.g. using automatic pilots (drive control systems specially adapted for autonomous road vehicles B60W60/00)
- G05D 1/02: Control of position or course in two dimensions
- G05D 1/0217: {in accordance with energy consumption, time reduction or distance reduction criteria}
- G05D 1/0274: {using mapping information stored in a memory device (navigation using map-matching G01C21/30)}
- Y10S 901/01: Mobile robot
- G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
- G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S)
- Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS

## Abstract

A path planning method is provided for mobile robots, including the following steps: Step 1. Searching for available paths according to the destinations of moving of the robots and the nodes properties on the map; Step 2. Determining the optimum path, according to the weights of the segments on all the available paths, with the segments being arbitrary curves made up of Bezier curves or splined curves of a plurality of control points; and Step 3. Driving the robots to move along the optimum path, and to stop at the stop points. The present path planning method for mobile robots increases the ways of connection between the nodes significantly and avoids that there is only a single way of connection between two nodes.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A path planning method for mobile robots, wherein the method comprises the following steps:
(1) searching for available paths according to the destinations of moving of the robots and the nodes properties on a map;
(2) determining the optimum path, according to the weights of the segments on all the available paths, with the segments being arbitrary curves made up of Bezier curves or splined curves of a plurality of control points; and
(3) driving the robots to move along the optimum path, and to stop at the stop points,
wherein in step (1), the node properties comprise rotatable properties and unrotatable properties, the mobile robots are configured to rotate in situ at the nodes with the rotatable properties, thereby switching the segments and searching for available paths, wherein at a node, if the angle of the adjacent segments exceed a certain degree (configurable), and if no properties that permit rotating are configured at the node, the segments are not connectable, and the segments will not be connected in path searching, and alternatively, if properties that permit rotating are configured at the node, the segments are connected, and the mobile robot will switch the segments in a way of rotating in situ while the mobile robot moves to that node.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The path planning method for mobile robots according to claim 1, wherein in step (2), the weights of the segments are equal to the lengths of the segments, taking the available path with the shortest length of the segment as the optimum path.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The path planning method for mobile robots according to claim 1, wherein in step (2), the weights of the segments are determined through manual inputs, taking the available path with the smallest weight of the segment as the optimum path.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The path planning method for mobile robots according to claim 1, wherein in step (3), the stop points are determined through the relative positions on the segments, thereby making the robots stop at arbitrary positions of the segments.