A mobile robot safe planner for multiple tasks in human-shared environments.

Various approaches have been studied to solve the path planning problem of a mobile robot designing with multiple tasks. However, safe operation for a mobile robot in dynamic environments remains a challenging problem. This paper focuses on safe path planning for a mobile robot executing multiple ta...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jian Mi, Xianbo Zhang, Zhongjie Long, Jun Wang, Wei Xu, Yue Xu, Shejun Deng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324534
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850221697831010304
author Jian Mi
Xianbo Zhang
Zhongjie Long
Jun Wang
Wei Xu
Yue Xu
Shejun Deng
author_facet Jian Mi
Xianbo Zhang
Zhongjie Long
Jun Wang
Wei Xu
Yue Xu
Shejun Deng
author_sort Jian Mi
collection DOAJ
description Various approaches have been studied to solve the path planning problem of a mobile robot designing with multiple tasks. However, safe operation for a mobile robot in dynamic environments remains a challenging problem. This paper focuses on safe path planning for a mobile robot executing multiple tasks in an environment with randomly moving humans. To plan a safe path and achieve high task success rate, a safe planner is developed where a double-layer finite state automaton (FSA)-based risk search (FSARS) method considering environmental risks is proposed. The low-level of FSARS is a novel safe approach to prioritize a safe path rather than merely seeking the shortest path in dynamic environments. Meanwhile, the high-level implements a safety-first search structure utilizing FSA transitions. This structure aims to generating optimal paths while multitasking, avoiding collisions with humans moving completely randomly at the planning level instead of aiming at real-time collision avoidance. FSARS is verified through a series of comparative simulations involving seven types of environmental settings, each with distinct task number, grid size, and human number. We evaluate FSARS based on several metrics, including conflict number, conflict distribution, task success rate, reward, and computational time. Compared with the reinforcement learning method, FSARS reduces the average conflict by 65.4% and improves the task success rate by 34.4%. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of FSARS with the lowest collisions and the highest success rate compared with classic approaches.
format Article
id doaj-art-357f21544e284fdface2c9d5e366db98
institution OA Journals
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-357f21544e284fdface2c9d5e366db982025-08-20T02:06:39ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01206e032453410.1371/journal.pone.0324534A mobile robot safe planner for multiple tasks in human-shared environments.Jian MiXianbo ZhangZhongjie LongJun WangWei XuYue XuShejun DengVarious approaches have been studied to solve the path planning problem of a mobile robot designing with multiple tasks. However, safe operation for a mobile robot in dynamic environments remains a challenging problem. This paper focuses on safe path planning for a mobile robot executing multiple tasks in an environment with randomly moving humans. To plan a safe path and achieve high task success rate, a safe planner is developed where a double-layer finite state automaton (FSA)-based risk search (FSARS) method considering environmental risks is proposed. The low-level of FSARS is a novel safe approach to prioritize a safe path rather than merely seeking the shortest path in dynamic environments. Meanwhile, the high-level implements a safety-first search structure utilizing FSA transitions. This structure aims to generating optimal paths while multitasking, avoiding collisions with humans moving completely randomly at the planning level instead of aiming at real-time collision avoidance. FSARS is verified through a series of comparative simulations involving seven types of environmental settings, each with distinct task number, grid size, and human number. We evaluate FSARS based on several metrics, including conflict number, conflict distribution, task success rate, reward, and computational time. Compared with the reinforcement learning method, FSARS reduces the average conflict by 65.4% and improves the task success rate by 34.4%. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of FSARS with the lowest collisions and the highest success rate compared with classic approaches.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324534
spellingShingle Jian Mi
Xianbo Zhang
Zhongjie Long
Jun Wang
Wei Xu
Yue Xu
Shejun Deng
A mobile robot safe planner for multiple tasks in human-shared environments.
PLoS ONE
title A mobile robot safe planner for multiple tasks in human-shared environments.
title_full A mobile robot safe planner for multiple tasks in human-shared environments.
title_fullStr A mobile robot safe planner for multiple tasks in human-shared environments.
title_full_unstemmed A mobile robot safe planner for multiple tasks in human-shared environments.
title_short A mobile robot safe planner for multiple tasks in human-shared environments.
title_sort mobile robot safe planner for multiple tasks in human shared environments
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324534
work_keys_str_mv AT jianmi amobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT xianbozhang amobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT zhongjielong amobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT junwang amobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT weixu amobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT yuexu amobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT shejundeng amobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT jianmi mobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT xianbozhang mobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT zhongjielong mobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT junwang mobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT weixu mobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT yuexu mobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments
AT shejundeng mobilerobotsafeplannerformultipletasksinhumansharedenvironments