An Efficient Path Planning Method Based on the Curvature of Contours for Drawing Robots

Creating artistic robotic systems is among the most attractive activities that recently have become more interesting. For drawing robots, a contour graphic can be presented as a Raster graphic or Vector graphic. Because vector graphics can create continuous and smooth strokes, vector graphics are more appropriate than raster graphics for drawing robots. Accordingly, in this paper, we propose a methodology for smooth path planning for drawing robots. To achieve this purpose, in this work, firstly, we propose an approach for sorting the points of a raster graphic into several strokes. Secondly, a novel approach is proposed to identify the main points of the raster graphic and use them for Raster-To-Vector conversion. We use the obtained vector graphics for path planning. Finally, the obtained trajectories are compared to each other on a simulated drawing robot to show how a Raster-To-Vector approach affects the performance of a drawing robot. The results validate the applicability of the proposed approach.