Search-based collision-free motion planning for robotic sculpting

Abstract

In this work, I explore the task of robot sculpting. I propose a search-based planning algorithm to solve the problem of sculpting by material removal with a multi-axis manipulator. I generate collision free trajectories for a manipulator using best-first search in two different material representations – a voxel representations and a subdivision surface representation. I also show significant speedup of the algorithm in the voxel representation by using octrees to decompose the voxel space. I demonstrate the algorithm on a multi-axis manipulator in simulation and on a physical robot by sculpting Michelangelo’s Statue of David.