Nonholonomic path planning with inequality constraints

A class of Newton-type algorithms is effective in solving the kinematic path planning problem for a system with nonholonomic equality constraints. A key result in this approach has been the generic full rank condition of a certain gradient operator. We have extended this method to path planning problems with inequality constraints and shown its efficacy in solving some challenging problems, but a similar genericity result is not currently available. In this paper, we present some extension of our algorithm for nonholonomic path planning with equality and inequality constraints and show the generic full rank condition for a special case. Simulation examples involving a steerable tractor-trailer vehicle and experiment results of a quarter-scale car with a trailer are presented.<<ETX>>