Constrained Motion Planning

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Overview

Constrained motion planning studies how robots can reach goals while respecting obstacles, dynamics, joint or contact limits, and task requirements, which is essential for safe, executable behavior. Methods include sampling and graph search, trajectory optimization and model predictive control, and planning directly on constraint manifolds; control barrier functions, reachability analysis, and signal temporal logic encode safety and task conditions. Learning-based trajectory proposals, including diffusion models, are increasingly paired with optimization, projection, or safety certificates to improve speed and handle complex environments. A central challenge is balancing formal feasibility and robustness to uncertainty with real-time computation, especially in high-dimensional, dynamic, and multi-robot settings.

Latest papers

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188 papers22 papers in the last four weeks, up 47% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

  1. Connectivity-Aware Representations for Constrained Motion Planning via Multi-Scale Contrastive Learning

    Mar 26, 2026Suhyun Jeon, Yumin Lim, Woo-Jeong Baek +3Constrained Motion PlanningMotion Planning

    Department of Intelligence and Information, Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. · Artificial Intelligence Institute (AIIS), Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. · Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. +2

  2. Characterization of Constraints in Flexible Unknown Environments

    Mar 25, 2026Samrat Bhattacharyya, Nabil SimaanRobotic ManipulationConstrained Motion Planning

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37212, USA

  3. Relaxing Constraints in Anonymous Multi Agent Path Finding for Large Agents

    Mar 25, 2026Stepan Dergachev, Dmitry AvdeevMulti-Agent Path FindingConstrained Motion Planning

    HSE University, Moscow, Russia · FRC CSC RAS, Moscow, Russia

  4. CSSDF-Net: Safe Motion Planning Based on Neural Implicit Representations of Configuration Space Distance Field

    Mar 19, 2026Haohua Chen, Yixuan Zhou, Yifan Zhou +1Safe Motion PlanningRobot Collision Avoidance

    IRMV Lab, Department of Automation, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.

  5. Graph-of-Constraints Model Predictive Control for Reactive Multi-agent Task and Motion Planning

    Mar 19, 2026Anastasios Manganaris, Jeremy Lu, Ahmed H. Qureshi +1Multi-Agent PlanningConstrained Motion Planning

    Department of Computer Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA, 47907.

  6. Ultrafast Sampling-based Kinodynamic Planning via Differential Flatness

    Mar 17, 2026Thai Duong, Clayton W. Ramsey, Zachary Kingston +2Constrained Motion PlanningKinodynamic Motion Planning

    Department of Computer Science, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA

  7. Surgical Robot, Path Planning, Joint Space, Riemannian Manifolds

    Mar 16, 2026Yoshiki Yamamoto, Maina Sogabe, Shunichi Hirahara +3Robot Motion PlanningMotion Planning

    The University of Tokyo, Department of Information Physics and Computing, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan · The University of Tokyo, Department of Precision Engineering, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan · National Institute of Informatics, Principles of Informatics Research Division, Tokyo, 101-8430, Japan

  8. Architecting Autonomy for Safe Microgravity Free-Flyer Inspection

    Mar 15, 2026Keenan Albee, David C. Sternberg, Alexander Hansson +3Space RoboticsSpacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

    Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA, USA · Department of Mechanical Engineering ETH Zürich Zürich, Switzerland · Department of Aerospace Engineering University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA

  9. ToMPC: Task-oriented Model Predictive Control via ADMM for Safe Robotic Manipulation

    Mar 14, 2026Xinyu Jia, Wenxin Wang, Jun Yang +2Safe Robot ManipulationRobotic Manipulation

    Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117583 · Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen 518057, China · School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798

  10. Coordinated Manipulation of Hybrid Deformable-Rigid Objects in Constrained Environments

    Mar 13, 2026Anees Peringal, Anup Teejo Mathew, Panagiotis liatsis +1Cosserat Rod ModelingDeformable Object Manipulation

    Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE, and also with the Khalifa University Center for Autonomous Robotic Systems (KUCARS), Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE · Department of Computer Science, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE

  11. Interleaving Scheduling and Motion Planning with Incremental Learning of Symbolic Space-Time Motion Abstractions

    Mar 11, 2026Elisa Tosello, Arthur Bit-Monnot, Davide Lusuardi +2Motion PlanningConstrained Motion Planning

    Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy · LAAS-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INSA, Toulouse, France

  12. PC-Diffuser: Path-Consistent Capsule CBF Safety Filtering for Diffusion-Based Trajectory Planner

    Mar 11, 2026Eugene Ku, Yiwei LyuConstrained Motion PlanningTrajectory Generation

    Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

  13. DRAFTO: Decoupled Reduced-space and Adaptive Feasibility-repair Trajectory Optimization for Robotic Manipulators

    Mar 10, 2026Yichang Feng, Xiao Liang, Minghui ZhengTrajectory OptimizationRobotic Optimization

    Yichang Feng and Minghui Zheng are with the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA · Xiao Liang is with the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843 USA

  14. Trajectory Optimization for Self-Wrap-Aware Cable-Towed Planar Object Manipulation under Implicit Tension Constraints

    Mar 10, 2026Yu Li, Amin Fakhari, Hamid SadeghianTrajectory OptimizationConstrained Motion Planning

    Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence, Technical University of Munich, Germany. · The author is with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.

  15. Stein Variational Ergodic Surface Coverage with SE(3) Constraints

    Mar 10, 2026Jiayun Li, Yufeng Jin, Sangli Teng +2Safe Robot ManipulationTrajectory Optimization

    Department of Computer Science, TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany. · Hessian.AI, Darmstadt, Germany. · Honda Research Institute Europe GmbH, Offenbach, Germany. +1

  16. Robust Spatiotemporal Motion Planning for Multi-Agent Autonomous Racing via Topological Gap Identification and Accelerated MPC

    Mar 10, 2026Mingyi Zhang, Cheng Hu, Yiqin Wang +3Autonomous RacingMulti-Robot Motion Planning

    Department of Control Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University. · Center for Project-Based Learning, D-ITET, ETH Zurich.

  17. Two-Stage Path Following for Mobile Manipulators via Dimensionality-Reduced Graph Search and Numerical Optimization

    Mar 7, 2026Fuyu Guo, Yuting Mei, Yuyao Zhang +1Robot Motion PlanningConstrained Motion Planning

    College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, ChongQing University, Chongqing, P.R.C.

  18. Multi-Robot Trajectory Planning via Constrained Bayesian Optimization and Local Cost Map Learning with STL-Based Conflict Resolution

    Mar 6, 2026Sourav Raxit, Abdullah Al Redwan Newaz, Jose Fuentes +3STL Motion PlanningMulti-Robot Motion Planning

    Department of Computer Science, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148, USA · Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA · Providence College, Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, Providence, RI 02918, USA

  19. CASSR: Continuous A-Star Search through Reachability for real time footstep planning

    Mar 3, 2026Jiayi Wang, Steve TonneauMotion PlanningConstrained Motion Planning

    State Key Laboratory of General Artificial Intelligence, BIGAI, Beijing 100080, China · University of Edinburgh, IPAB, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, U.K.

  20. COLREGs Compliant Collision Avoidance and Grounding Prevention for Autonomous Marine Navigation

    Mar 3, 2026Mayur S. Patil, Nataraj Sudharsan, Veneela Ammula +5Collision AvoidanceConstrained Motion Planning

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA · American Bureau of Shipping, Spring, TX, USA

  21. SaferPath: Hierarchical Visual Navigation with Learned Guidance and Safety-Constrained Control

    Mar 2, 2026Lingjie Zhang, Zeyu Jiang, Changhao ChenVisual Robot NavigationRobot Navigation

    PEAK-Lab, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511453, China

  22. Online Generation of Collision-Free Trajectories in Dynamic Environments

    Feb 28, 2026Nermin Covic, Bakir LacevicConstrained Motion PlanningTrajectory Optimization

    Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

  23. Constraint-aware Path Planning from Natural Language Instructions Using Large Language Models

    Feb 26, 2026Dylan Shim, Minghan WeiConstrained Motion PlanningLLM Planning

    Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, United States

  24. Hierarchical Trajectory Planning of Floating-Base Multi-Link Robot for Maneuvering in Confined Environments

    Feb 25, 2026Yicheng Chen, Jinjie Li, Haokun Liu +3Robot Motion PlanningMotion Planning

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan

  25. FACTO: Function-space Adaptive Constrained Trajectory Optimization for Robotic Manipulators

    Feb 23, 2026Yichang Feng, Xiao Liang, Minghui ZhengTrajectory OptimizationRobotic Optimization

    J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA · Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843 USA

  26. RRTη^η: Sampling-based Motion Planning and Control from STL Specifications using Arithmetic-Geometric Mean Robustness

    Feb 18, 2026Ahmad Ahmad, Shuo Liu, Roberto Tron +1STL Motion PlanningMotion Planning

    Division of Systems Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. · Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. · Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.

  27. Constraining Streaming Flow Models for Adapting Learned Robot Trajectory Distributions

    Feb 17, 2026Jieting Long, Dechuan Liu, Weidong Cai +2Robot Motion GenerationConstrained Motion Planning

    School of Computer Science, The University of Sydney, Australia. · School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, Australia. · Australian Center For Robotics, The University of Sydney, Australia. +1

  28. Kino-PAX+^+: Near-Optimal Massively Parallel Kinodynamic Sampling-based Motion Planner

    Feb 2, 2026Nicolas Perrault, Qi Heng Ho, Morteza LahijanianConstrained Motion PlanningKinodynamic Motion Planning

    Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, CO, USA · Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, Virginia Tech, VA, USA

  29. Continuous-Space Roadmap Generation for Mobile Robot Fleets with Distance Constraints and Geometry-Aware Discretization

    Nov 10, 2025Marvin Rüdt, Constantin Enke, Kai FurmansMulti-Robot Motion PlanningConstrained Motion Planning

    Institute for Material Handling and Logistics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany.

  30. Manifold-constrained Hamilton-Jacobi Reachability Learning for Decentralized Multi-Agent Motion Planning

    Nov 5, 2025Qingyi Chen, Ruiqi Ni, Junyoung Kim +1Multi-Robot Motion PlanningConstrained Motion Planning

    Department of Computer Science at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.