Targeted marching
First Claim
1. A method of finding a path from a start point to a target point, in a physical space, wherein a substantially infinite number of paths exist in the space between the start point and the target point, the method comprising:
- (a) selecting a plurality of points in the physical space from among the points comprised in said substantially infinite number of possible paths;
(b) computing, using a programmed general purpose computer and a cost function, a path cost from the start point to one of said plurality of points;
said path cost representing an estimate of a minimal cost path from the start point to the one point which is acceptably accurate with respect to an optimization criterion;
(c) repeating (b) for a succession of others of said plurality of points to determine the path cost from the start point to each of said succession of other intermediate points;
d) computing estimated costs to target from the plurality of points for which path costs were determined in (b) and (c);
(e) selecting a group of points for further consideration according to those points determined in (b) and (c);
(f) repeating (b)-(e) to determine estimated total path costs to target for said selected group of points; and
(g) after computing said costs, determining, using said computer, at least one of a minimal path or a minimal path cost of a path from the start point to the target point in the physical space, wherein the determination is based on said estimated total path costs and is an acceptably accurate estimate of the lowest cost path with respect to an optimization criterion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of finding a path from a start point to a target point, in multi-dimensional space, including: (a) determining a plurality of points in a physical space, including a start point and an target point; (b) computing, using a cost function, for said points an accumulated path cost from the start point to a point; representing a minimal cost path from the start point to the point with respect to an optimization criteria; (c) computing for at least some of said points an estimated-cost-to-target from a point to the target point; and (d) after computing said costs, determining at least one of a minimal path or a minimal path cost of a path from the start point to the target point in the physical space, wherein the determination is based on said accumulated path costs, and is minimal with respect to the optimization criteria.
63 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method of finding a path from a start point to a target point, in a physical space, wherein a substantially infinite number of paths exist in the space between the start point and the target point, the method comprising:
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(a) selecting a plurality of points in the physical space from among the points comprised in said substantially infinite number of possible paths; (b) computing, using a programmed general purpose computer and a cost function, a path cost from the start point to one of said plurality of points;
said path cost representing an estimate of a minimal cost path from the start point to the one point which is acceptably accurate with respect to an optimization criterion;(c) repeating (b) for a succession of others of said plurality of points to determine the path cost from the start point to each of said succession of other intermediate points; d) computing estimated costs to target from the plurality of points for which path costs were determined in (b) and (c); (e) selecting a group of points for further consideration according to those points determined in (b) and (c); (f) repeating (b)-(e) to determine estimated total path costs to target for said selected group of points; and (g) after computing said costs, determining, using said computer, at least one of a minimal path or a minimal path cost of a path from the start point to the target point in the physical space, wherein the determination is based on said estimated total path costs and is an acceptably accurate estimate of the lowest cost path with respect to an optimization criterion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification