Map Representation and Navigation Planning for Legged Climbing UGVs in 3D Environments

Legged climbing unmanned ground vehicles (LC-UGVs) possess obstacle avoidance and wall transition capabilities, allowing them to move in 3D environments. Existing navigation methods for legged UGVs are only suitable for ground locomotion rather than 3D space. Although some wall transition methods ha...

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Main Authors: Ao Xiang, Chenzhang Gong, Li Fan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Drones
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/8/12/768
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author Ao Xiang
Chenzhang Gong
Li Fan
author_facet Ao Xiang
Chenzhang Gong
Li Fan
author_sort Ao Xiang
collection DOAJ
description Legged climbing unmanned ground vehicles (LC-UGVs) possess obstacle avoidance and wall transition capabilities, allowing them to move in 3D environments. Existing navigation methods for legged UGVs are only suitable for ground locomotion rather than 3D space. Although some wall transition methods have been proposed, they are specific to certain legged structures and have not been integrated into the navigation framework in full 3D environments. The planning of collision-free and accessible paths for legged climbing UGVs with any configuration in a 3D environment remains an open problem. This paper proposes a map representation suitable for the navigation planning of LC-UGVs in 3D space, named the Multi-Level Elevation Map (MLEM). Based on this map representation, we propose a universal hierarchical planning architecture. A global planner is applied to rapidly find cross-plane topological paths, and then a local planner and a motion generator based on motion primitives produces accessible paths and continuous motion trajectories. The hierarchical planning architecture equips the LC-UGVs with the ability to transition between different walls, thereby allowing them to navigate through challenging 3D environments.
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spelling doaj-art-8cccf65e123f462b9c21fecc7f23d65a2025-08-20T02:50:53ZengMDPI AGDrones2504-446X2024-12-0181276810.3390/drones8120768Map Representation and Navigation Planning for Legged Climbing UGVs in 3D EnvironmentsAo Xiang0Chenzhang Gong1Li Fan2College of Control Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaCollege of Control Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaCollege of Control Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaLegged climbing unmanned ground vehicles (LC-UGVs) possess obstacle avoidance and wall transition capabilities, allowing them to move in 3D environments. Existing navigation methods for legged UGVs are only suitable for ground locomotion rather than 3D space. Although some wall transition methods have been proposed, they are specific to certain legged structures and have not been integrated into the navigation framework in full 3D environments. The planning of collision-free and accessible paths for legged climbing UGVs with any configuration in a 3D environment remains an open problem. This paper proposes a map representation suitable for the navigation planning of LC-UGVs in 3D space, named the Multi-Level Elevation Map (MLEM). Based on this map representation, we propose a universal hierarchical planning architecture. A global planner is applied to rapidly find cross-plane topological paths, and then a local planner and a motion generator based on motion primitives produces accessible paths and continuous motion trajectories. The hierarchical planning architecture equips the LC-UGVs with the ability to transition between different walls, thereby allowing them to navigate through challenging 3D environments.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/8/12/768legged climbing UGVsmap representationcross-plane planing
spellingShingle Ao Xiang
Chenzhang Gong
Li Fan
Map Representation and Navigation Planning for Legged Climbing UGVs in 3D Environments
Drones
legged climbing UGVs
map representation
cross-plane planing
title Map Representation and Navigation Planning for Legged Climbing UGVs in 3D Environments
title_full Map Representation and Navigation Planning for Legged Climbing UGVs in 3D Environments
title_fullStr Map Representation and Navigation Planning for Legged Climbing UGVs in 3D Environments
title_full_unstemmed Map Representation and Navigation Planning for Legged Climbing UGVs in 3D Environments
title_short Map Representation and Navigation Planning for Legged Climbing UGVs in 3D Environments
title_sort map representation and navigation planning for legged climbing ugvs in 3d environments
topic legged climbing UGVs
map representation
cross-plane planing
url https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/8/12/768
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