Intermediate Waypoint Generation for Dynamic Obstacle Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Robotic devices often become stuck or trapped while navigating constrained environments due to encountering obstacles not accounted for in high-level maps, despite relying on low-level navigation systems that lack context or decision-making abilities.
Innovation Solution
A method for generating intermediate waypoints using a sparse graph and Voronoi cells to navigate around dynamic obstacles, ensuring real-time navigation by integrating high-level and low-level data to plan optimal paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If high-level navigation data is used for route planning, then the robot can navigate large-scale environments, but it cannot account for dynamic obstacles not present in the high-level map
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation system is divided into two levels: high-level navigation for global route planning and low-level navigation for local obstacle avoidance. The intermediate waypoint generator acts as a bridge between these levels, segmenting the navigation task to simultaneously achieve broad coverage and reliable obstacle detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The intermediate waypoint generator serves as an intermediary component that receives both high-level navigation routes and low-level sensor data, then generates intermediate waypoints that reconcile the two levels. This mediator integrates global context with local real-time information to produce reliable navigation paths.
2Speed
If low-level navigation systems are used for real-time obstacle avoidance, then the robot can respond to immediate obstacles, but it lacks context and decision-making abilities for overall path planning
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation system is divided into two levels: high-level navigation for global route planning and low-level navigation for local obstacle avoidance. The intermediate waypoint generator acts as a bridge between these levels, segmenting the navigation task to simultaneously achieve broad coverage and reliable obstacle detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The low-level navigation system serves itself by generating intermediate waypoints that automatically incorporate real-time sensor data into the navigation route, enabling autonomous adaptation to dynamic obstacles without requiring complex centralized control.
3Ease of operation
If the robot follows a direct path from start to destination, then navigation is simple, but the robot may contact obstacles or become stuck in constrained environments
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by generating intermediate waypoints in advance based on predicted obstacle locations and robot capabilities. These pre-computed waypoints prepare the robot for potential obstacles before it encounters them, enabling proactive rather than reactive navigation.
Solution Approach 2:
The navigation route becomes dynamic as intermediate waypoints are continuously generated and updated based on real-time sensor data and changing environmental conditions. The system adapts the path dynamically while maintaining overall simplicity through automated waypoint generation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for generating intermediate waypoints for a navigation system of a robot includes receiving a navigation route. The navigation route includes a series of high-level waypoints that begin at a starting location and end at a destination location and is based on high-level navigation data. The high-level navigation data is representative of locations of static obstacles in an area the robot is to navigate. The method also includes receiving image data of an environment about the robot from an image sensor and generating at least one intermediate waypoint based on the image data. The method also includes adding the at least one intermediate waypoint to the series of high-level waypoints of the navigation route and navigating the robot from the starting location along the series of high-level waypoints and the at least one intermediate waypoint toward the destination location.