INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONTROL AUTOMATION AND SYSTEMS, cilt.19, sa.10, ss.3487-3502, 2021 (SCI-Expanded)
Instead of using the tedious process of turret teaching, an off-line path planning algorithm has been developed for military turrets to improve their accuracy and efficiency. In the scope of this research, an algorithm is proposed to search a path in three different types of configuration spaces which are rectangular, circular and torus shaped by providing three converging options named as fast, medium and optimum depending on the application. With the help of the proposed algorithm, 4-dimensional (D) path planning problem was realized as 2-D + 2-D by using 6 sequences and their options. In order to find a heuristic path on these 2-D configuration maps, the A* algorithm is implemented, which is usually used to find a heuristic path on Cartesian Workspace. Firstly, 4-D configuration space of the double-turret system is obtained by using the method of intersection of point clouds where the bodies in the system are meshed and converted into points. With the help of random simulations, the sequences and the options of these sequences are provided in an appropriate order. A sample path planning was made to examine the performance of the algorithm and thus the converging options. The results obtained for 3 different converging options were simulated on the model of the double-turret system and it was observed that there was no collision between any bodies in these three options. Hence, a collision free motion planning can be carried out for double-turret system operating in a common workspace.