The BPF proposal ensures a feasible, optimal and safe path for robot navigation.The results of BPF overcomes APF and other EAPF methods like those based in GAs.The BPF is quite faster in optimization leading to reduction in computation burden.The BPF running in parallel mode is the most suitable to fulfill local and global controllability.The BPF is capable to work in offline and online mode with static and dynamic obstacles. In this paper, optimal paths in environments with static and dynamic obstacles for a mobile robot (MR) are computed using a new method for path planning. The proposed method called Bacterial Potential Field (BPF) ensures a feasible, optimal and safe path. This novel proposal makes use of the Artificial Potential Field (APF) method with a Bacterial Evolutionary Algorithm (BEA) to obtain an enhanced flexible path planner method taking all the advantages of using the APF method, strongly reducing its disadvantages. Comparative experiments for sequential and parallel implementations of the BPF method against the classic APF method, as well as with the Pseudo-Bacterial Potential Field (PBPF) method, and with the Genetic Potential Field (GPF) method, all of them based on evolutionary computation to optimize the APF parameters, were achieved. A simulation platform that uses an MR realistic model was designed to test the path planning algorithms. In general terms, it was demonstrated that the BPF outperforms the APF, GPF, and the PBPF methods by reducing the computational time to find the optimal path at least by a factor of 1.59. These results have a positive impact in the ability of the BPF path planning method to satisfy local and global controllability in dynamic complex environments, avoiding collisions with objects that will interfere the navigation of the MR.

Path planning for mobile robots using Bacterial Potential Field for avoiding static and dynamic obstacles

Based on evolutionary computation, a novel real-time route planner for unmanned air vehicles is presented. In the evolutionary route planner, the individual candidates are evaluated with respect to the workspace so that the computation of the configuration space is not required. The planner incorporates domain-specific knowledge, can handle unforeseeable changes of the environment, and take into account different kinds of mission constraints such as minimum route leg length and flying altitude, maximum turning angle, and fixed approach vector to goal position. Furthermore, the novel planner can be used to plan routes both for a single vehicle and for multiple ones. With Digital Terrain Elevation Data, the resultant routes can increase the surviving probability of the vehicles using the terrain masking effect.

Evolutionary route planner for unmanned air vehicles

This paper presents a parallel elite genetic algorithm (PEGA) and its application to global path planning for autonomous mobile robots navigating in structured environments. This PEGA, consisting of two parallel EGAs along with a migration operator, takes advantages of maintaining better population diversity, inhibiting premature convergence, and keeping parallelism in comparison with conventional GAs. This initial feasible path generated from the PEGA planner is then smoothed using the cubic B-spline technique, in order to construct a near-optimal collision-free continuous path. Both global path planner and smoother are implemented in one field-programmable gate array chip utilizing the system-on-a-programmable-chip technology and the pipelined hardware implementation scheme, thus significantly expediting computation speed. Simulations and experimental results are conducted to show the merit of the proposed PEGA path planner and smoother for global path planning of autonomous mobile robots.

Parallel Elite Genetic Algorithm and Its Application to Global Path Planning for Autonomous Robot Navigation

In this paper, a knowledge based genetic algorithm (GA) for path planning of a mobile robot is proposed, which uses problem-specific genetic algorithms for robot path planning instead of the standard GAs. The proposed knowledge based genetic algorithm incorporates the domain knowledge into its specialized operators, where some also combine a local search technique. The proposed genetic algorithm also features a unique and simple path representation and a simple but effective evaluation method. The knowledge based genetic algorithm is capable of finding an optimal or near-optimal robot path in both complex static and dynamic environments. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed genetic algorithm is demonstrated by simulation studies. The irreplaceable role of the specialized genetic operators in the proposed GA for solving robot path planning problem is demonstrated by a comparison study.

A knowledge based genetic algorithm for path planning of a mobile robot

This work presents results of our work in development of a genetic algorithm based path-planning algorithm for local obstacle avoidance (local feasible path) of a mobile robot in a given search space. The method tries to find not only a valid path but also an optimal one. The objectives are to minimize the length of the path and the number of turns. The proposed path-planning method allows a free movement of the robot in any direction so that the path-planner can handle complicated search spaces.

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Autonomous local path planning for a mobile robot using a genetic algorithm

This paper demonstrates a new approach to multidimensional path planning that is based on multiresolution path representation, where explicit configuration space computation is not required, and incorporates an evolutionary algorithm for solving the multimodal optimization problem, generating multiple alternative paths simultaneously. The multiresolution path representation reduces the expected search length for the path-planning problem and accordingly reduces the overall computational complexity. Resolution independent constraints due to obstacle proximity and path length are introduced into the evaluation function. The system can be applied for planning paths for mobile robots, assembly, and articulated manipulators. The resulting path-planning system has been evaluated on problems of two, three, four, and six degrees of freedom. The resulting paths are practical, consistent, and have acceptable execution times. The multipath algorithm is demonstrated on a number of 2D path-planning problems.

C. Hocaoglu

Papers

Planning multiple paths with evolutionary speciation