Rearrangement planning of multiple movable objects by using real-time search methodology

The author has proposed the rearrangement planning methodology of multiple movable objects by an autonomous mobile robot. In the problem settlement, several objects should be moved from initial configuration to each destination through the robot's handling operation. The proposed algorithm has the following characteristics: (1) introduction of a real-time search methodology for application to sensor-based robots, (2) description of motion primitives-transit movement, transfer movement to the destination, transfer movement to temporal positions, (3) motion generation of each primitive with the standard motion planning methodology, and (4) proposal of an efficient heuristic function by using the solution of the stacker crane problem and the concept of the precedence graph. Simulation results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm from the viewpoints of planning quality and calculation cost.