RBE 550 Motion Planning Reports
Robotics ·Overview
For RBE 550 (Motion Planning) at WPI, I completed three major projects exploring different aspects of motion planning algorithms. I took the opportunity to go overboard with the technical reports, focusing on clear explanations and thorough documentation.
Project Reports
Valet: Hybrid A* for Multiple Vehicle Types
Implemented Hybrid A* search for four vehicle models of increasing complexity: holonomic point robot, differential drive, Ackermann car, and car with trailer. Includes collision detection optimizations and Reeds-Shepp path connections.
Wildfire: Discrete vs Sampling-Based Planning
A competitive simulation between two agents: a grid-based “Wumpus” using A* to ignite obstacles, and a firetruck using a PRM with Reeds-Shepp local connections to pursue and extinguish fires.
Transmission: BiRRT for Disassembly Planning
Used Bidirectional RRT to plan a collision-free removal path for the mainshaft of an SM-465 manual transmission, navigating around the countershaft and enclosure geometry.
What I Learned
These projects gave me practice implementing and comparing different planning algorithms—from basic graph search to RRTs and optimization-based methods. Writing detailed reports forced me to really understand the tradeoffs between approaches and communicate them clearly.