What does potential field mean?
A way of steering without planning a route: the goal pulls the robot towards it, every obstacle pushes it away, and the robot follows the sum. It is fast but can get stuck at a local minimum where the pushes and the pull cancel.
In a lesson
Every planner so far builds a complete route before the robot moves. A potential field does not plan at all. It puts the robot on an imaginary hillside and lets it roll.
Learn it
- Taught in U9.5 Potential fields Planning, University