Application of A* algorithm in intelligent vehicle path planning

Abstract

Path planning is one of the important directions in the field of intelligent vehicles research. Traditional path planning algorithms generally use Dijkstra algorithm, Breadth-First-Search (BFS) algorithm and A* algorithm. Dijkstra algorithm is a search-based algorithm, which can search to an optimal path, but the disadvantage is too many expansion nodes, which leads to insufficient search efficiency. BFS algorithm is a heuristic search algorithm, which reduces the disadvantage of too many expansion nodes and improves the search efficiency by heuristic function. A* algorithm is a heuristic search algorithm that combines Dijkstra’s algorithm and BFS algorithm, which has higher search efficiency and can search to an optimal path at the same time, but it is still lacking in the search mode and smoothness of the planned route. This paper first introduces the general path planning algorithm, then introduces and analyzes the A* algorithm, and proposes improvement measures for its shortcomings; finally, the executability and effectiveness of the improved algorithm are tested using simulation, and compared with the traditional A* algorithm, and the results show that the improved A* algorithm has good effect on path planning of intelligent vehicles.