MinPAs
MinPAs, short for Minimum Path Activations, is a framework used in robotics and motion planning to minimize the number of actuator activations required to complete a task. In this context, PAs stands for actuator activations or propulsion activation events, treated as discrete decisions within a plan. The central idea is to produce a feasible trajectory from a starting state to a goal while reducing the count or total cost of activations, which can correlate with energy use, wear, and noise.
The core problem can be described as a combinatorial optimization: given a robot model, a set of
Algorithms for minPAs range from exact to heuristic. Exact approaches include mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulations
Applications span mobile robotics, aerial or legged robotics, and any domain where reducing actuator usage aligns