Avoiding local minima in the potential field method using input-to-state stability

G Guerra (1) , Denis Efimov (2, 3) , Gang Zheng (2) , Wilfrid Perruquetti (3, 2, 4)

1 ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab [Toulouse]
2 NON-A - Non-Asymptotic estimation for online systems
3 CRIStAL - Centre de Recherche en Informatique, Signal et Automatique de Lille - UMR 9189
4 Centrale Lille

Supported by a novel field definition and recent control theory results, a new method to avoid local minima is proposed. It is formally shown that the system has an attracting equilibrium at the target point, repelling equilibriums in the obstacles centers and saddle points on the borders. Those unstable equilibriums are avoided capitalizing on the established Input-to-State Stability (ISS) property of this multistable system. The proposed modification of the PF method is shown to be effective by simulation for a two variables integrator and then applied to an unicycle-like wheeled mobile robots which is subject to additive input disturbances.

Domaines: Automatique / Robotique

G Guerra, Denis Efimov, Gang Zheng, Wilfrid Perruquetti. Avoiding local minima in the potential field method using input-to-state stability. Control Engineering Practice, 2016, 55, pp.174 - 184. ⟨10.1016/j.conengprac.2016.07.008⟩. ⟨hal-01405349⟩