Optimal reorientation of planar floating snake robots with collision avoidance

Omar Itani, Elie A. Shammas, Dany Abou Jaoude

Abstract: Highlights•Motion planning algorithm for reorienting snake robots in force-free environments.•The proposed algorithm is applicable to snake robots having any number of links.•The proposed algorithm generates optimal shape trajectories.•Generated shape trajectories are optimized based on user-defined cost functions.•The algorithm facilitates obstacle avoidance and inter-link collision avoidance.•Introduction of a novel heuristic for inter-link collision avoidance.