A fast collision check algorithm EDGE for moving 3D objects

We propose an octree-based collision check algorithm EDGE for multiple manipulators with many degrees-of-freedom. The manipulator consists of many links, and therefore it should plan a collision-free sequence of motions by a collision check between two moving 3D links. In previous octree-based algorithms, we drop each patch of an object on an octree of another object to investigate their collision. In our proposed algorithm, we drop each edge of an object on an octree of another object to find the collision. With our algorithm, tracing the edge is much faster than covering the patch on the octree. For this purpose, we first develop an efficient algorithm for finding neighbor nodes (cubes) along an edge in an octree. Next, we build a collision check algorithm with the support of the neighbor finding algorithm.