Conference thebay::joyoflex

710.0. "Effective communication" by CASP::SEIDMAN (Aaron Seidman) Wed Aug 16 1989 22:42

   The following is taken from Western Technology Digest, Vol 3, No. 2,
    August 1989:

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
      On Nonholonomic Mobile Robots And Optimal Maneuvering

     We consider the robot path planning problem in the presence of non-
integrable kinematic constraints, known as nonholonomic constraints. Such 
constraints are generally caused by one or several rolling contacts between
rigid bodies and express that the relative velocity of two points in contact 
is zero. They make the dimension of the space of achievable velocities smaller
than the dimension of the robot's configuration space. Using standard results
in differental geometry (Frobenius Integrability Theorem) and nonlinear control
theory, we first give a formal characterization of holonomy (and nonholonomy)
for robot systems subject to linear differental constraints and we state some
related results in their controllability. Then, we apply these results to 
"car-like" robots and "trailer-like" robots. Finally, we present an implemented
planner, which generates collision-free paths with minimal number of maneuvers
for car-like and trailer-like robots among obstacles. Potential applications
of the planner include navigation of autonomous robots, automated parking of
personal cars and trucks, autonomous navigation of luggage carriers in airport
facilities, automatic planning of movements of machines in a construction site,
and computer-aided design of access ports for trucks in industrial and
commercial facilities.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    My translation:  

    We've got an idea how to make robots move around at a reasonable speed
    without smashing into things.

    
    	regarding 710.0
    		I understood the translation better that the above.
    	my initial thought was "What did he say?!"
    				Thom Terriffic