Robotic Welding Optimization Using A* Parallel Path Planning

The world of robotics is in constant evolution, trying to find new solutions to improve on top of the current technology and to overcome the current industrial pitfalls. To date, one of the key intelligent robotics components, path planning algorithms, lack flexibility when considering dynamic constraints on the surrounding work cell. This is mainly related to the large amount of time required to generate safe collision-free paths for high redundancy systems. Furthermore, and despite the already known benefits, the adoption of CPU/GPU parallel solutions is still lacking in the robotic field. This work presents a software solution able of connecting the path planning algorithms with parallel computing tools, reducing the time needed to generate a safe path. The output of this work is the validation for the introduction of intelligent parallel solutions in the robotic sector.