Adaptive Artificial Potential Fields with Orientation Control Applied to Robotic Manipulators

Abstract This paper proposes the integration of an Adaptive Artificial Potential Fields algorithm with a new end effector orientation control technique for real-time robot path planning. The development of autonomous robotic systems has undergone several advances in path planning algorithms. These systems generate object collision-free paths in the robot’s workspace. In this context, the Artificial Potential Fields technique has been the focus of improvements in recent years due to its simplicity of application and efficiency in real-time systems, since it does not require a global mapping of the robot’s workspace. In spite of its efficiency, this technique is susceptible to local minimum problems of different natures, such as Goals Non-Reachable with Obstacles Nearby (GNRON). To solve this problem, we suggest the use of an improvement called Adaptive Artificial Potential Fields used in conjunction with the proposed end effector orientation control technique, which allows reaching a desired orientation of the end effector. The resulting force, generated from the Adaptive Artificial Potential Field, guides the robot end effector to the goal. The Robot Operating System (ROS) framework and a collaborative robot manipulator UR5 are used to validate the proposed method on an approaching task for an object on a 3D printer tray.