High-Performance Path Planning of UAV under Complex Environment

Abstract

Abstract-This paper presents a high-performance path planning algorithm against resource and physical constraints under complex environment based on a modified RRTs algorithm so as to generate a fast and near optimal 3D UAV collision-free path with good smoothness and optimality. The advantages of the proposed algorithm lie in its low computational complexity and small memory to model complicated spaces with a large number of obstacles thus it can meet the requirements of implementation using low cost embedded processors. A series of simulation experiments and comparative analysis are carried out about four benchmark scenarios with VPB-RRT and DRRT algorithms to verify the predominance of our algorithm. The implementation results with hardware in the loop on a low cost embedded board based on Atmel SAM3X8E ARM Cortex-M3 CPU validated its performance effect. Meanwhile, various results demonstrated its robustness and effectiveness to play an important role in the online UAV mission generation.Index Terms-Path planning, rapidly-exploring random tree (RRT), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Obstacle avoidance