A novel path planning algorithm in robotic fibre placement for complex closed surface structures

A novel path planning algorithm based on efficiency and quality evaluation (EQE) in robotic fibre placement (RFP) for complex profile structures is proposed in this paper. The EQE algorithm focus on the concept for the first time that the paths are generated according to the tradeoff between the laying efficiency and quality under the specific process requirement, which will improve the RFP's adaptability to the complicated process environment. Meanwhile, the core of the proposed EQE algorithm is evaluating two different modified paths based on the laying efficiency and quality according to the process requirement during the path angle modification process. Besides, in the EQE, two new path angle modification methods are proposed to generate the modified paths. Thus, the EQE algorithm outperforms the existing path planning algorithms. Finally, some simulation experiments are conducted for a complex closed surface structure. The results verify the effectiveness of the proposed EQE algorithm and also show that it is compared favorably with the existing path planning algorithms.