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Cross-Entropy Motion Planning

Authors: Marin Kobilarov

Published: 2012 (Journal Paper)

Source: International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR)

Algorithm: CEM

DOI: 10.1177/0278364912444543

Summary

Applies the cross-entropy method (CEM) to motion planning, framing trajectory search as a distribution estimation problem where elite samples iteratively refine a sampling distribution toward low-cost trajectories.

Abstract

This paper is concerned with motion planning for non-linear robotic systems operating in constrained environments. A method for computing high-quality trajectories is proposed building upon recent developments in sampling-based motion planning and stochastic optimization. The idea is to equip sampling-based methods with a probabilistic model that serves as a sampling distribution and to incrementally update the model during planning using data collected by the algorithm. At the core of the approach lies the cross-entropy method for the estimation of rare-event probabilities. The cross-entropy method is combined with recent optimal motion planning methods such as the rapidly exploring random trees (RRT*) in order to handle complex environments. The main goal is to provide a framework for consistent adaptive sampling that correlates the spatial structure of trajectories and their computed costs in order to improve the performance of existing planning methods.

Tags

  • Motion planning

  • Cross-entropy method

  • Sampling-based planning

  • Sampling-based control

  • Stochastic optimal control