Deformable Volumes in Path Planning Applications

This paper addresses the problem of path planning for a class of deformable volumes under fairly general manipulation constraints. The underlying geometric model for the volume is provided by a mass-spring representation. It is augmented by a realistic mechanical model. The latter permits the computation of the shape of the considered object with respect to the grasping constraints by minimizing the energy function of the deformation of the object. Previous research in planning for deformable objects considered the case of elastic plates and proposed a randomized framework for planning paths for plates under manipulation constraints. The present paper modifies and extends the previously proposed framework to handle simple volumes. Our planner builds a roadmap in the configuration space. The nodes of the roadmap are equilibrium configurations of the considered volume under the manipulation constraints, while its edges correspond to quasi-static equilibrium paths. Paths are found by searching the roadmap. We present experimental results that illustrate our approach.

Authors

• Elliot Anshelevich
• Scott Owens
• Florent Lamiraux
• Lydia E. Kavraki

Keywords

• Path planning
• Cables
• Assembly
• Application software
• Animation
• Virtual prototyping
• Catheters
• Computer science
• Solid modeling
• Shape
• Energy Function
• Geometric Model
• Industrial Settings
• Deformable Objects
• Elastic Plate
• Energy Minimization
• Spring Constant
• Point-like
• Conjugate Gradient
• Left End
• Opposite Face
• Tangent Vector
• Lattice Points
• Elastic Limit
• Pipe Length
• Spring Model
• Normal Plane
• Spring Type
• Left Face