Computer system and method for real-time autonomous path planning and system and method for planning motion of a robotic device and parts thereof

A system for real-time autonomous path planning for a robotic device, the system comprising:

• a communication interface device for receiving or recording telemetry data about the robotic device in a three-dimensional workspace, the robotic device including a plurality of joints, and sending one or more commands to the robotic device;
• and
• a computing device comprising one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the following operations to be performed:
• encapsulating objects in the environment of the robotic device including the robotic device, a target, and one or more obstacles in simulated robotic space, the simulated robotic space having a plurality of dimensions;
• calculating a direction of movement for the robotic device according to three virtual forces including a virtual attractive force acting to move the robotic device and the target together, a virtual repulsive force acting to move the robotic device and the one or more obstacles away from one another, and a virtual tangential force acting at least partially perpendicularly relative to the virtual repulsive force;
• mapping each virtual force in the three-dimensional workspace into torque vectors in the simulated robotic space at each joint;
• and
• converting a sum of the torque vectors into the one or more commands for the robotic device, the one or more commands defining a path to reach the target.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for real-time autonomous path planning for a robotic device, the non-transitory computer-readable medium encoding instructions which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform the following operations:

• receiving, via a communication interface device, telemetry data about the robotic device in a three-dimensional workspace, the robotic device including a plurality of joints;
• encapsulating, via one or more processors, objects in the environment of the robotic device including the robotic device, a target, and one or more obstacles in simulated robotic space, the simulated robotic space having a plurality of dimensions;
• calculating, via the one or more processors, a direction of movement for the robotic device according to three virtual forces including a virtual attractive force acting to move the robotic device and the target together, a virtual repulsive force acting to move the robotic device and the one or more obstacles away from one another, and a virtual tangential force acting at least partially perpendicularly relative to the virtual repulsive force;
• mapping, via the one or more processors, each virtual force in the three-dimensional workspace into torque vectors in the simulated robotic space at each joint;
• converting, via the one or more processors, a sum of the torque vectors into one or more commands for the robotic device, the one or more commands defining a path to reach the target;
• and
• sending, via the communication interface device, the one or more commands to the robotic device.