Coverage Path Planning for Mobile Cleaning Robots

this paper a path planning algorithms for a mobile cleaning robot is developed. An exact cellular decomposition divides an environment in multiple smaller regions called cells. To produce an efficient cleaning path, the order in which these cells are cleaned is important. This paper describes how the optimalization of this path can be formulated as a Traveling Salesman Problem. Furthermore an exact cellular decomposition called the Boustrophedon cellular decomposition is expanded to handle the dynamic, unknown environments a cleaning robots can face in an indoor environment. In particular this is achieved by allowing the robot to change the decomposition during its cleaning activity. A simulation study have been used to validate this approach.

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