Improvement and Fusion of D*Lite Algorithm and Dynamic Window Approach for Path Planning in Complex Environments

Effective path planning is crucial for autonomous mobile robots navigating complex environments. The "global-local" coupled path planning algorithm exhibits superior global planning capabilities and local adaptability. However, these algorithms often fail to fully realize their potential due to low efficiency and excessive constraints. To address these issues, this study introduces a simpler and more effective integration strategy. Specifically, this paper proposes using a bi-layer map and a feasible domain strategy to organically combine the D*Lite algorithm with the Dynamic Window Approach (DWA). The bi-layer map effectively reduces the number of nodes in global planning, enhancing the efficiency of the D*Lite algorithm. The feasible domain strategy decreases constraints, allowing the local algorithm DWA to utilize its local planning capabilities fully. Moreover, the cost functions of both the D*Lite algorithm and DWA have been refined, enabling the fused algorithm to cope with more complex environments. This paper conducts simulation experiments across various settings and compares our method with A_DWA, another "global-local" coupled approach, which combines A* and DWA. D_DWA significantly outperforms A_DWA in complex environments, despite a 7.43% increase in path length. It reduces the traversal of risk areas by 71.95%, accumulative risk by 80.34%, global planning time by 26.98%, and time cost by 35.61%. Additionally, D_DWA outperforms the A_Q algorithm, a coupled approach validated in real-world environments, which combines A* and Q-learning, achieving reductions of 1.34% in path length, 67.14% in traversal risk area, 78.70% in cumulative risk, 34.85% in global planning time, and 37.63% in total time cost. The results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed algorithm in complex scenarios.