Direct step-by-step method for industrial robot path planning

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to solve the path-planning problem of industrial robots in complex environments. Design/methodology/approach - A direct method (in each step, the path is been recorded) is presented in which the search of the path is made in the state space of the robotic system, and it makes use of the information generated about the characteristics of the process, introducing graph techniques for branching. The method poses an optimization problem that aims at minimizing the distance travelled by the significant points of the robot. Findings - A new approach to solve the path-planning problem has been introduced in which the behaviour of three operational parameters (computational time, distance travelled and number of configurations generated) have been analyzed so that the user can choose the most efficient algorithm depending on which parameter he is most interested in. Research limitations/implications - A new technique has been introduced which yields good results as the examples show. Practical implications - The algorithm is able to obtain the solution to the path-planning problem for any industrial robot working in a complex environment. Originality/value - Gives a new tool for solving the path-planning problem.