# Timed elastic bands > **Elastic Bands: Connecting Path Planning and Control** > Sean Quinlan and Oussama Khatib Robotics Laboratory Computer Science Department Stanford University Abstract Elastic bands are proposed as the basis for a new framework to close the gap between global path planning and real-time sensor-based robot control. An elastic band is a deformable collision-free path. The initial shape of the elastic is the free path generated by a planner. Subjected to artificial forces,