Path Planning for Special Robotic Operations

The problem of robotic path planning has been the focus of countless investigations since the early works of the ’70s and, despite the large number of results available in literature, is still a topic that draws a great interest. In virtually all robotic applications it is required to somehow define a feasible and safe path, and such a problem can be cast and solved in many ways, given the several possible combination of robots—industrial robots, Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), underwater vehicles—and scenarios—a production line, a warehouse, an hazardous mountain—and therefore a large number of approaches and solutions have been, and are being, investigated. The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of such widespread literature, first by briefly recalling some classic and general-purpose methods used in path planning, then by focusing on some application-specific problems, related to AGVs in industry, medical robotics and robotic welding. This choice is motivated by the prominent relevance of the path planning problem in these three applications. Then, a single application of great industrial interest, such as robotic spray painting, is analysed. Its specific features are described, and several techniques for task modelling and path planning are considered. A detailed comparison among these techniques is carried out, so as to highlight pros and cons of each one, and to provide a methodology to choose the most suitable one for the specific robotic spray painting application.