Optimal Motion Planning in Unknown Workspaces Using Integral Reinforcement Learning
Panagiotis Rousseas, Charalampos P. Bechlioulis, Kostas J. Kyriakopoulos
Abstract
A novel motion planning scheme for optimal navigation in unknown workspaces is proposed in this letter. Based upon the Artificial Harmonic Potential Fields (AHPFs) theory, a robust framework for provably correct (i.e., safe and globally convergent) navigation is enhanced through Integral Reinforcement Learning (IRL) <xref ref-type="fn" rid="fn1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><sup>1</sup></xref> to obtain a provably complete solution for optimal motion planning in unknown workspaces. Our method aims at bridging the gap between the control theoretic framework of mathematical rigor, with the data-driven Reinforcement Learning (RL) paradigm, while preserving the strong traits of each approach. Finally, it is compared against an RRT <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^\star$</tex-math></inline-formula> method to asses the optimality of the final results in a multiply connected synthetic workspace.