Parametrized motion planning and topological complexity

In this paper we study paramertized motion planning algorithms which provide universal and flexible solutions to diverse motion planning problems. Such algorithms are intended to function under a variety of external conditions which are viewed as parameters and serve as part of the input of the algorithm. Continuing a recent paper, we study further the concept of parametrized topological complexity. We analyse in full detail the problem of controlling a swarm of robots in the presence of multiple obstacles in Euclidean space which served for us a natural motivating example. We present an explicit parametrized motion planning algorithm solving the motion planning problem for any number of robots and obstacles.. This algorithm is optimal, it has minimal possible topological complexity for any d odd. Besides, we describe a modification of this algorithm which is optimal for d even. We also analyse the parametrized topological complexity of sphere bundles using the Stiefel - Whitney characteristic classes.

Parametrized topological complexity of collision-free motion planning in the plane

Parametrized motion planning algorithms have high degrees of universality and flexibility, as they are designed to work under a variety of external conditions, which are viewed as parameters and form part of the input of the underlying motion planning problem. In this paper, we analyze the parameterized motion planning problem for the motion of many distinct points in the plane, moving without collision and avoiding multiple distinct obstacles with a priori unknown positions. This complements our prior work [arXiv:2009.06023], where parameterized motion planning algorithms were introduced, and the obstacle-avoiding collision-free motion planning problem in three-dimensional space was fully investigated. The planar case requires different algebraic and topological tools than its spatial analog.