arXiv (Cornell University)
Complex Terrain Navigation via Model Error Prediction
November 2021 • Adam Polevoy, Craig Knuth, Katie M. Popek, Kapil D. Katyal
Robot navigation traditionally relies on building an explicit map that is used to plan collision-free trajectories to a desired target. In deformable, complex terrain, using geometric-based approaches can fail to find a path due to mischaracterizing deformable objects as rigid and impassable. Instead, we learn to predict an estimate of traversability of terrain regions and to prefer regions that are easier to navigate (e.g., short grass over small shrubs). Rather than predicting collisions, we instead regress on r…