Efficient Sampling-based for Mobile Robot Path Planning in a Dynamic Environment Based on the Rapidly-exploring Random Tree and a Rule-template Sets

Abstract

This study presents an efficient path planning method for mobile robots in a dynamic environment. The method is based on the rapidly-exploring random tree (RRT) algorithm. The two primary processes in mobile robot path planning in a dynamic environment are initial path planning and path re-planning. In order to generate a feasible initial path with fast convergence speed, we used a hybridization of rapidly-exploring random tree star and ant colony systems (RRT-ACS). When an obstacle obstructs the initial path, the path re-planner must be executed. In addition to the RRT-ACS algorithm, we proposed using a rule-template set based on the mobile robot in dynamic environment scenes during the path re-planner process. This novel algorithm is called RRT-ACS with Rule-Template Sets (RRT-ACS+RT). We conducted many benchmark simulations to validate the proposed method in a real dynamic environment. The performance of the proposed method is compared to the state-of-the-art path planning algorithms: RRT*FND and MOD-RRT*. Numerous experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms other comparison algorithms. The results show that the proposed method is suitable for the use on robots that need to navigate in a dynamic environment, such as self-driving cars.