Monte Carlo Tree Search with Velocity Obstacles for safe and efficient motion planning in dynamic environments

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Bonanni, Lorenzo, Meli, Daniele, Castellini, Alberto, Farinelli, Alessandro
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Bonanni, Lorenzo
Meli, Daniele
Castellini, Alberto
Farinelli, Alessandro
author_facet Bonanni, Lorenzo
Meli, Daniele
Castellini, Alberto
Farinelli, Alessandro
contents Online motion planning is a challenging problem for intelligent robots moving in dense environments with dynamic obstacles, e.g., crowds. In this work, we propose a novel approach for optimal and safe online motion planning with minimal information about dynamic obstacles. Specifically, our approach requires only the current position of the obstacles and their maximum speed, but it does not need any information about their exact trajectories or dynamic model. The proposed methodology combines Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS), for online optimal planning via model simulations, with Velocity Obstacles (VO), for obstacle avoidance. We perform experiments in a cluttered simulated environment with walls, and up to 40 dynamic obstacles moving with random velocities and directions. With an ablation study, we show the key contribution of VO in scaling up the efficiency of MCTS, selecting the safest and most rewarding actions in the tree of simulations. Moreover, we show the superiority of our methodology with respect to state-of-the-art planners, including Non-linear Model Predictive Control (NMPC), in terms of improved collision rate, computational and task performance.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_09649
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Monte Carlo Tree Search with Velocity Obstacles for safe and efficient motion planning in dynamic environments
Bonanni, Lorenzo
Meli, Daniele
Castellini, Alberto
Farinelli, Alessandro
Artificial Intelligence
Robotics
Online motion planning is a challenging problem for intelligent robots moving in dense environments with dynamic obstacles, e.g., crowds. In this work, we propose a novel approach for optimal and safe online motion planning with minimal information about dynamic obstacles. Specifically, our approach requires only the current position of the obstacles and their maximum speed, but it does not need any information about their exact trajectories or dynamic model. The proposed methodology combines Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS), for online optimal planning via model simulations, with Velocity Obstacles (VO), for obstacle avoidance. We perform experiments in a cluttered simulated environment with walls, and up to 40 dynamic obstacles moving with random velocities and directions. With an ablation study, we show the key contribution of VO in scaling up the efficiency of MCTS, selecting the safest and most rewarding actions in the tree of simulations. Moreover, we show the superiority of our methodology with respect to state-of-the-art planners, including Non-linear Model Predictive Control (NMPC), in terms of improved collision rate, computational and task performance.
title Monte Carlo Tree Search with Velocity Obstacles for safe and efficient motion planning in dynamic environments
topic Artificial Intelligence
Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.09649