Control system and method for robotic motion planning and control

A system comprising:

• a robotic vehicle having a propulsion system configured to propel the robotic vehicle between different final destinations and a manipulator configured to perform designated tasks;
• one or more sensors disposed onboard the robotic vehicle configured to obtain image data representative of an external environment and to sense operation of the manipulator;
• and
• a local controller disposed onboard the robotic vehicle and configured to receive input signals from an off-board controller;
• wherein, responsive to receiving an input signal for moving in an autonomous mode, the local controller is configured to move the robotic vehicle toward one of the different final destinations by autonomously and iteratively determining a series of waypoints until the robotic vehicle has reached the one final destination, wherein, for each iteration, the local controller is configured to:
• determine a next waypoint between a current location of the robotic vehicle and the final destination;
• determine movement limitations of the robotic vehicle for moving the robotic vehicle between the current location and the next waypoint, wherein the movement limitations are based on the image data of the external environment including the current location and the next waypoint, the movement limitations configured to avoid collisions between the robotic vehicle and one or more objects in the external environment;
• and
• generate control signals in accordance with the movement limitations that are configured to move the robotic vehicle toward the next waypoint;
• wherein, responsive to receiving the input signal for operating in a tele-operation mode, the local controller is configured to exit the autonomous mode.