Research on motion path planning of wheeled soft robot based on A* algorithm

Abstract

Soft robots feature the capability of continuous deformation under driving force, yet they suffer from relatively low locomotion speed due to their soft structure. In contrast, rigid wheeled robots deliver high movement efficiency, but their rigid structure limits their traversability in unstructured environments. This paper proposes a wheeled soft robot with flexible legs and wheeled feet, which combines fast moving speed and strong deformable adaptability. A prototype of the wheeled soft robot is fabricated, and its deformation range is characterized via experiments. A path planning control platform based on the A* algorithm is constructed for the robot. ArUco markers are adopted to encode environmental information, which is collected through an external vision system. The robot’s deformation capacity is introduced as boundary constraints for path planning, enabling the robot to cross obstacles while satisfying motion limits and generating feasible motion trajectories. Finally, experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.