Global path planning approach based on ant colony optimization algorithm

Ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm was modified to optimize the global path. In order to simulate the real ant colonies, according to the foraging behavior of ant colonies and the characteristic of food, conceptions of neighboring area and smell area were presented. The former can ensure the diversity of paths and the latter ensures that each ant can reach the goal. Then the whole path was divided into three parts and ACO was used to search the second part path. When the three parts pathes were adjusted, the final path was found. The valid path and invalid path were defined to ensure the path valid. Finally, the strategies of the pheromone search were applied to search the optimum path. However, when only the pheromone was used to search the optimum path, ACO converges easily. In order to avoid this premature convergence, combining pheromone search and random search, a hybrid ant colony algorithm(HACO) was used to find the optimum path. The comparison between ACO and HACO shows that HACO can be used to find the shortest path.

Cooperative Path Dynamic Planning Model of UCAV Team Based on Global Optimization Method

Cooperative path dynamic planning of a UCAV （unmanned combat air vehicle） team not only considers the capability of task requirement of single UCAV, but also considers the cooperative dynamic connection among members of the UCAV team. A cooperative path dynamic planning model of the UCAV team by applying a global optimization method is discussed in this paper and the corresponding model is built and analyzed. By the example simulation, the reasonable result acquired indicates that the model could meet dynamic planning demand under the circumstance of membership functions. The model is easy to be realized and has good practicability.

Global optimal path planning for mobile robot based onimproved Dijkstra algorithm and ant system algorithm

A novel method of global optimal path planning for mobile robot was proposed based on the improved Dijkstra algorithm and ant system algorithm. This method includes three steps: the first step is adopting the MAKLINK graph theory to establish the free space model of the mobile robot, the second step is adopting the improved Dijkstra algorithm to find out a sub-optimal collision-free path, and the third step is using the ant system algorithm to adjust and optimize the location of the sub-optimal path so as to generate the global optimal path for the mobile robot. The computer simulation experiment was carried out and the results show that this method is correct and effective. The comparison of the results confirms that the proposed method is better than the hybrid genetic algorithm in the global optimal path planning.

Path Planning of Continuum Robot Based on a New Improved Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

Continuum robot is a new type of biomimetic robot,which realizes the motion by bending some parts of its body.So its path planning becomes more difficult even compared with hyper-redundant robots.In this paper a circular arc spline interpolating method is proposed for the robot shape description,and a new two-stage position-selectable-updating particle swarm optimization(TPPSO)algorithm is put forward to solve this path planning problem.The algorithm decomposes the standard PSO velocity’s single-step updating formula into twostage multi-point updating,specifically adopting three points as candidates and selecting the best one as the updated position in the first half stage,and similarly taking seven points as candidates and selecting the best one as the final position in the last half stage.This scheme refines and widens each particle’s searching trajectory,increases the updating speed of the individual best,and improves the converging speed and precision.Aiming at the optimization objective to minimize the sum of all the motion displacements of every segmental points and all the axial stretching or contracting displacements of every segment,the TPPSO algorithm is used to solve the path planning problem.The detailed solution procedure is presented.Numerical examples of five path planning cases show that the proposed algorithm is simple,robust,and efficient.

Heuristic Expanding Disconnected Graph:A Rapid Path Planning Method for Mobile Robots

Existing mobile robots mostly use graph search algorithms for path planning,which suffer from relatively low planning efficiency owing to high redundancy and large computational complexity.Due to the limitations of the neighborhood search strategy,the robots could hardly obtain the most optimal global path.A global path planning algorithm,denoted as EDG*,is proposed by expanding nodes using a well-designed expanding disconnected graph operator(EDG)in this paper.Firstly,all obstacles are marked and their corners are located through the map pre-processing.Then,the EDG operator is designed to find points in non-obstruction areas to complete the rapid expansion of disconnected nodes.Finally,the EDG*heuristic iterative algorithm is proposed.It selects the candidate node through a specific valuation function and realizes the node expansion while avoiding collision with a minimum offset.Path planning experiments were conducted in a typical indoor environment and on the public dataset CSM.The result shows that the proposed EDG*reduced the planning time by more than 90%and total length of paths reduced by more than 4.6%.Compared to A*,Dijkstra and JPS,EDG*does not show an exponential explosion effect in map size.The EDG*showed better performance in terms of path smoothness,and collision avoidance.This shows that the EDG*algorithm proposed in this paper can improve the efficiency of path planning and enhance path quality.

A Path Planning Algorithm Based on Improved RRT Sampling Region

For the problem of slow search and tortuous paths in the Rapidly Exploring Random Tree(RRT)algorithm,a feedback-biased sampling RRT,called FS-RRT,is proposedbasedon RRT.Firstly,toimprove the samplingefficiency of RRT to shorten the search time,the search area of the randomtree is restricted to improve the sampling efficiency.Secondly,to obtain better information about obstacles to shorten the path length,a feedback-biased sampling strategy is used instead of the traditional random sampling,the collision of the expanding node with an obstacle generates feedback information so that the next expanding node avoids expanding within a specific angle range.Thirdly,this paper proposes using the inverse optimization strategy to remove redundancy points from the initial path,making the path shorter and more accurate.Finally,to satisfy the smooth operation of the robot in practice,auxiliary points are used to optimize the cubic Bezier curve to avoid path-crossing obstacles when using the Bezier curve optimization.The experimental results demonstrate that,compared to the traditional RRT algorithm,the proposed FS-RRT algorithm performs favorably against mainstream algorithms regarding running time,number of search iterations,and path length.Moreover,the improved algorithm also performs well in a narrow obstacle environment,and its effectiveness is further confirmed by experimental verification.

Neural network and genetic algorithm based global path planning in a static environment

Mobile robot global path planning in a static environment is an important problem. The paper proposes a method of global path planning based on neural network and genetic algorithm. We constructed the neural network model of environmental information in the workspace for a robot and used this model to establish the relationship between a collision avoidance path and the output of the model. Then the two-dimensional coding for the path via-points was converted to one-dimensional one and the fitness of both the collision avoidance path and the shortest distance are integrated into a fitness function. The simulation results showed that the proposed method is correct and effective.

Mobile robot path planning method combined improved artificial potential field with optimization algorithm

To overcome the shortcomings of the traditional artificial potential field method in mobile robot path planning, an improved artificial potential field model （IAPFM） was established, then a new path planning method combining the IAPFM with optimization algorithm （trust region algorithm） is proposed. Attractive force between the robot and the target location, and repulsive force between the robot and the obstacles are both converted to the potential field intensity; and filled potential field is used to guide the robot to go out of the local minimum points ; on this basis, the effect of dynamic obstacles velocity and the robot＇s velocity is consid thers and the IAPFM is established, then both the expressions of the attractive potential field and the repulsive potential field are obtained. The trust region algorithm is used to search the minimum value of the sum of all the potential field inten- sities within the movement scope which the robot can arrive in a sampling period. Connecting of all the points which hare the minimum intensity in every sampling period constitutes the global optimization path. Experiment result shows that the method can meet the real-time requirement, and is able to execute the mobile robot path planning task effectively in the dynamic environment.

Path Planning for Robotic Arms Based on an Improved RRT Algorithm

The burgeoning robotics industry has catalyzed significant strides in the development and deployment of industrial and service robotic arms, positioning path planning as a pivotal facet for augmenting their operational safety and efficiency. Existing path planning algorithms, while capable of delineating feasible trajectories, often fall short of achieving optimality, particularly concerning path length, search duration, and success likelihood. This study introduces an enhanced Rapidly-Exploring Random Tree (RRT) algorithm, meticulously designed to rectify the issues of node redundancy and the compromised path quality endemic to conventional RRT approaches. Through the integration of an adaptive pruning mechanism and a dynamic elliptical search strategy within the Informed RRT* framework, our algorithm efficiently refines the search tree by discarding branches that surpass the cost of the optimal path, thereby refining the search space and significantly boosting efficiency. Extensive comparative analysis across both two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulation settings underscores the algorithm’s proficiency in markedly improving path precision and search velocity, signifying a breakthrough in the domain of robotic arm path planning.

Generative Adversarial Network Based Heuristics for Sampling-Based Path Planning

Sampling-based path planning is a popular methodology for robot path planning.With a uniform sampling strategy to explore the state space,a feasible path can be found without the complex geometric modeling of the configuration space.However,the quality of the initial solution is not guaranteed,and the convergence speed to the optimal solution is slow.In this paper,we present a novel image-based path planning algorithm to overcome these limitations.Specifically,a generative adversarial network(GAN)is designed to take the environment map(denoted as RGB image)as the input without other preprocessing works.The output is also an RGB image where the promising region(where a feasible path probably exists)is segmented.This promising region is utilized as a heuristic to achieve non-uniform sampling for the path planner.We conduct a number of simulation experiments to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method,and the results demonstrate that our method performs much better in terms of the quality of the initial solution and the convergence speed to the optimal solution.Furthermore,apart from the environments similar to the training set,our method also works well on the environments which are very different from the training set.

Ant Colony System Algorithm for Real-Time Globally Optimal Path Planning of Mobile Robots

为活动机器人计划的即时全球性最佳的路径的一个新奇方法基于蚂蚁殖民地系统(交流) 被建议算法。这个方法包括三步：第一步正在利用 MAKLINK 图理论建立活动机器人的空间模型，第二步正在利用 Dijkstra 算法发现一条非最优的没有碰撞的路径，并且第三步正在利用 ACS 算法优化非最优的路径的地点以便产生全球性最佳的路径。建议方法是有效的并且能在即时路径被使用活动机器人计划的计算机模拟实验表演的结果。建议方法比与优秀人材模型一起基于基因算法计划方法的路径处于集中速度，答案变化，动态集中行为，和计算效率有更好的性能，这被验证了。

Optimization of Path Planning for Construction Robots Based on Multiple Advanced Algorithms

There are many processes involved in construction, it is necessary to optimize the path planning of construction robots. Most researches focused more on optimization algorithms, but less on comparative analysis based on the advantages and shortcomings of these algorithms. Therefore, the innovation of this paper is to analyze three advanced optimization algorithms (genetic algorithm, hybrid particle swarm algorithm and ant colony algorithm) and discuss how these algorithms can improve the optimization performance by adjusting parameters. Finally, the three algorithms are compared and analyzed to find an optimization algorithm that is suitable for path planning optimization of construction robots. The purpose of the optimization is to obtain the maximum benefit with the least cost and complete project in an efficient and economical way.

Novel Algorithm for Mobile Robot Path Planning in Constrained Environment

This paper presents a development of a novel path planning algorithm, called Generalized Laser simulator (GLS), for solving the mobilerobot path planning problem in a two-dimensional map with the presence ofconstraints. This approach gives the possibility to find the path for a wheelmobile robot considering some constraints during the robot movement inboth known and unknown environments. The feasible path is determinedbetween the start and goal positions by generating wave of points in alldirection towards the goal point with adhering to constraints. In simulation,the proposed method has been tested in several working environments withdifferent degrees of complexity. The results demonstrated that the proposedmethod is able to generate efficiently an optimal collision-free path. Moreover,the performance of the proposed method was compared with the A-star andlaser simulator (LS) algorithms in terms of path length, computational timeand path smoothness. The results revealed that the proposed method hasshortest path length, less computational time and the best smooth path. Asan average, GLS is faster than A∗ and LS by 7.8 and 5.5 times, respectivelyand presents a path shorter than A∗ and LS by 1.2 and 1.5 times. In orderto verify the performance of the developed method in dealing with constraints, an experimental study was carried out using a Wheeled Mobile Robot(WMR) platform in labs and roads. The experimental work investigates acomplete autonomous WMR path planning in the lab and road environmentsusing a live video streaming. Local maps were built using data from a live video streaming with real-time image processing to detect segments of theanalogous-road in lab or real-road environments. The study shows that theproposed method is able to generate shortest path and best smooth trajectoryfrom start to goal points in comparison with laser simulator.

Simple Path Planning for Mobile Robots in the Present of Obstacles

To obtain the near optimal path for the mobile robots in the present of the obstacles, where the robots are subject to both the nonholonomic constraints and the bound to the curvature of the path, a simple planning is applied by the heuristic searching method in which Reeds and Shepp’s shortest paths are chosen as heuristic functions. It has performed well in simulation of mobile robots moving in a cluttered environment.

Research on AGV task path planning based on improved A^(*) algorithm

Background Automatic guided vehicles(AGVs)have developed rapidly in recent years and have been used in several fields,including intelligent transportation,cargo assembly,military testing,and others.A key issue in these applications is path planning.Global path planning results based on known environmental information are used as the ideal path for AGVs combined with local path planning to achieve safe and rapid arrival at the destination.Using the global planning method,the ideal path should meet the requirements of as few turns as possible,a short planning time,and continuous path curvature.Methods We propose a global path-planning method based on an improved A^(*)algorithm.The robustness of the algorithm was verified by simulation experiments in typical multiobstacle and indoor scenarios.To improve the efficiency of the path-finding time,we increase the heuristic information weight of the target location and avoid invalid cost calculations of the obstacle areas in the dynamic programming process.Subsequently,the optimality of the number of turns in the path is ensured based on the turning node backtracking optimization method.Because the final global path needs to satisfy the AGV kinematic constraints and curvature continuity condition,we adopt a curve smoothing scheme and select the optimal result that meets the constraints.Conclusions Simulation results show that the improved algorithm proposed in this study outperforms the traditional method and can help AGVs improve the efficiency of task execution by planning a path with low complexity and smoothness.Additionally,this scheme provides a new solution for global path planning of unmanned vehicles.

Path Planning of Quadrotors in a Dynamic Environment Using a Multicriteria Multi-Verse Optimizer

Paths planning of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs)in a dynamic environment is considered a challenging task in autonomous flight control design.In this work,an efficient method based on a Multi-Objective MultiVerse Optimization(MOMVO)algorithm is proposed and successfully applied to solve the path planning problem of quadrotors with moving obstacles.Such a path planning task is formulated as a multicriteria optimization problem under operational constraints.The proposed MOMVO-based planning approach aims to lead the drone to traverse the shortest path from the starting point and the target without collision with moving obstacles.The vehicle moves to the next position from its current one such that the line joining minimizes the total path length and allows aligning its direction towards the goal.To choose the best compromise solution among all the non-dominated Pareto ones obtained for compromise objectives,the modified Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution(TOPSIS)is investigated.A set of homologous metaheuristics such as Multiobjective Salp Swarm Algorithm(MSSA),Multi-Objective Grey Wolf Optimizer(MOGWO),Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization(MOPSO),and Non-Dominated Genetic Algorithm II(NSGAII)is used as a basis for the performance comparison.Demonstrative results and statistical analyses show the superiority and effectiveness of the proposed MOMVO-based planning method.The obtained results are satisfactory and encouraging for future practical implementation of the path planning strategy.

Intermediary RRT*-PSO:A Multi-Directional Hybrid Fast Convergence Sampling-Based Path Planning Algorithm

Path planning is a prevalent process that helps mobile robots find the most efficient pathway from the starting position to the goal position to avoid collisions with obstacles.In this paper,we propose a novel path planning algorithm-Intermediary RRT*-PSO-by utilizing the exploring speed advantages of Rapidly exploring Random Trees and using its solution to feed to a metaheuristic-based optimizer,Particle swarm optimization(PSO),for fine-tuning and enhancement.In Phase 1,the start and goal trees are initialized at the starting and goal positions,respectively,and the intermediary tree is initialized at a random unexplored region of the search space.The trees were grown until one met the other and then merged and re-initialized in other unexplored regions.If the start and goal trees merge,the first solution is found and passed through a minimization process to reduce unnecessary nodes.Phase 2 begins by feeding the minimized solution from Phase 1 as the global best particle of PSO to optimize the path.After simulating two special benchmark configurations and six practice configurations with special cases,the results of the study concluded that the proposed method is capable of handling small to large,simple to complex continuous environments,whereas it was very tedious for the previous method to achieve.

Autonomous mobile robot global path planning: a prior information-based particle swarm optimization approach

The path planning of autonomous mobile robots(PPoAMR)is a very complex multi-constraint problem.The main goal is to find the shortest collision-free path from the starting point to the target point.By the fact that the PPoAMR problem has the prior knowledge that the straight path between the starting point and the target point is the optimum solution when obstacles are not considered.This paper proposes a new path planning algorithm based on the prior knowledge of PPoAMR,which includes the fitness value calculation method and the prior knowledge particle swarm optimization(PKPSO)algorithm.The new fitness calculation method can preserve the information carried by each individual as much as possible by adding an adaptive coefficient.The PKPSO algorithm modifies the particle velocity update method by adding a prior particle calculated from the prior knowledge of PPoAMR and also implemented an elite retention strategy,which improves the local optima evasion capability.In addition,the quintic polynomial trajectory optimization approach is devised to generate a smooth path.Finally,some experimental comparisons with those state-of-the-arts are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed path planning algorithm.

Path Planning of Multi-Axis Robotic Arm Based on Improved RRT*

An improved RRT∗algorithm,referred to as the AGP-RRT∗algorithm,is proposed to address the problems of poor directionality,long generated paths,and slow convergence speed in multi-axis robotic arm path planning.First,an adaptive biased probabilistic sampling strategy is adopted to dynamically adjust the target deviation threshold and optimize the selection of random sampling points and the direction of generating new nodes in order to reduce the search space and improve the search efficiency.Second,a gravitationally adjustable step size strategy is used to guide the search process and dynamically adjust the step-size to accelerate the search speed of the algorithm.Finally,the planning path is processed by pruning,removing redundant points and path smoothing fitting using cubic B-spline curves to improve the flexibility of the robotic arm.Through the six-axis robotic arm path planning simulation experiments on the MATLAB platform,the results show that the AGP-RRT∗algorithm reduces 87.34%in terms of the average running time and 40.39%in terms of the average path cost;Meanwhile,under two sets of complex environments A and B,the average running time of the AGP-RRT∗algorithm is shortened by 94.56%vs.95.37%,and the average path cost is reduced by 55.28%vs.47.82%,which proves the effectiveness of the AGP-RRT∗algorithm in improving the efficiency of multi-axis robotic arm path planning.

Singularity Robust Path Planning for Real Time Base Attitude Adjustment of Free-floating Space Robot

This paper presents a singularity robust path planning for space manipulator to achieve base （satellite） attitude adjustment and end-effector task. The base attitude adjustment by the movement of manipulator will save propellant compared with conventional attitude control system. A task-priority reaction null-space control method is applied to achieve the primary task of adjusting attitude and secondary task of accomplishing end-effector task. Furthermore, the algorithm singularity is eliminated in the proposed algorithm compared with conventional reaction null-space algorithm. And the singular value filtering decomposition is introduced to dispose the dynamic singularity, the unit quaternion is also introduced to overcome representation singularity. Hence, a singularity robust path planning algorithm of space robot for base attitude adjustment is derived. A real time simulation system of the space robot under Linux/RTAl （realtime application interface） is developed to verify and test the feasibility and reliability of the method. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of online base attitude adjustment of space robot by the proposed algorithm.