Path planning for terrain of steep incline using Bézier curves

In order to navigate rugged, sloped, slippery, or, in general, challenging terrains, a robot needs to occasionally adapt its path plan in order to accommodate particular circumstances. Steep inclines are a prime example of situations where a non-shortest path plan can dramatically increase a mobile platform's ability to operate. In this paper, we present a path planning method that produces smooth curves that are longer than a straight line to the goal, but are designed to be optimal (not longer than necessary) for a given maximum inclination that the robot platform is capable of, while simultaneously taking into consideration the obstacles in the field.