| This paper addresses the problem
of planning paths for an elastic object from an initial to a final configuration
in a static environment. It is assumed that the object is manipulated by
two actuators and that it does not touch the obstacles in its environment
at any time. The object may need to deform in order to achieve a collision-free
path from the initial to the final configuration. Any required deformations
are automatically computed by the planner according to the principles of
elasticity theory from mechanics. The problem considered in this paper differs
significantly from that of planning for a rigid or an articulated object.
In the first part of the paper, the authors point out these differences
and highlight the reasons that make planning for elastic objects an extremely
difficult task. The authors then present a randomized algorithm for computing
collision-free paths for elastic objects under the above-mentioned restrictions
of manipulation. The paper includes a number of experimental results. The
work is motivated by the need to consider the physical properties of objects
while planning and has applications in industrial problems, in maintainability
studies, in virtual reality environments, and in medical surgical settings. |
