Session: AVT-01-01: Advances in Ground Vehicles Dynamics and Controls

Paper Number: 146339

146339 - A Star Based Path Planning Strategy for Off-Road Vehicle Applications With Considering Wheel Mobility Performance 

Most current path planning algorithms, used in various applications such as robotics and unmanned ground vehicle, aim to find the shortest path; however, they have not yet incorporated terrain-dependent speed limits into their calculations, which could affect the practicality and safety of the resulting paths. This study investigates the integration of mobility considerations into vehicle path planning algorithms within off-road terrain environments. Within this context, the Wheel Mobility Performance (WMP) index is introduced as a novel metric designed to assess the mobility performance of off-road vehicles across varied terrain conditions. An optimized version of the A* algorithm, which integrates the WMP index, has been developed and implemented to navigate challenging terrains. Simulation results demonstrate that the optimized algorithm effectively reduces traversal time by selecting paths with enhanced mobility performance. These findings highlight the potential of integrating domain-specific metrics like WMP to improve path planning efficiency for off-road vehicles, with implications for autonomous navigation and robotics applications.

In conclusion, this study has investigated the development and implementation of an optimized A* algorithm for path planning with considering the wheel performance in off-road environment. Through the utilization of a mobility map generated from terrain characteristics and the integration of heuristic optimization techniques, the optimized algorithm demonstrates notable improvements over conventional A* algorithms. The results indicate that the optimized algorithm effectively minimizes the time required for vehicles to traverse challenging terrains by selecting paths with superior mobility performance.

Presenting Author: Parth Patel Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Presenting Author Biography: Parth Y. Patel recevied his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2019. After finishing his Ph.D., he joined Autonomous Vehicle Mobility Institute (AVMI) as a research engineer.

Authors:

Huashuai Fan university of alabama at birmingham
Siyuan Zhang Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Parth Patel Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Lee Moradi Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Vladimir Vantsevich Worcester Polytechnic Institute