Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Motion Planning Algorithm In A Y-Graph, David Baldi

Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal

We present an explicit algorithm for two robots to move autonomously and without collisions on a track shaped like the letter Y. Configuration spaces are of practical relevance in designing safe control schemes for automated guided vehicles. The topological complexity of a configuration space is the minimal number of continuous instructions required to move robots between any initial configuration to any final one without collisions. Using techniques from topological robotics, we calculate the topological complexity of two robots moving on a Y-track and exhibit an optimal algorithm realizing this exact number of instructions given by the topological complexity.