Research on Static/Dynamic Global Path Planning Based on Improved A ∗ Algorithm for Mobile Robots

Abstract

In view of the problems of A ∗ algorithm in path planning, such as collision risk, the path is not necessarily optimal, and there are numerous turning nodes. Therefore, this study proposes an improved A ∗ algorithm to improve the quality of the planned path. First, the 8-neighborhood children of the parent node are generated, and the security of the planned path is improved by further investigating the properties of the neighbors of these children one by one to reasonably set virtual obstacles. Second, the heuristic function of A ∗ algorithm is ameliorated to make it closer to the actual cost, so as to enhance the accuracy of the planned path; finally, the planned path is smoothed by using the cubic uniform B-spline curve to eliminate corner sharp points in the path. The simulation results show that the improved A ∗ algorithm can not only ensure the safety and smoothness of the planned path but also obtain the shortest planned path in the static environment with different obstacle rates. In addition, we combine the improved A ∗ algorithm with the dynamic window algorithm to enable mobile robots to realize real-time dynamic obstacle avoidance while ensuring the optimality of global path planning.