Graph-based robot optimal path planning with bio-inspired algorithms

Recently, bio-inspired algorithms have been increasingly explored for autonomous robot path planning on grid-based maps. However, these approaches endure performance degradation as problem complexity increases, often resulting in lengthy search times to find an optimal solution. This limitation is particularly critical for real-world applications like autonomous off-road vehicles, where highquality path computation is essential for energy efficiency. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a new graph-based optimal path planning approach that leverages a sort of bio-inspired algorithm, improved seagull optimization algorithm (iSOA) for rapid path planning of autonomous robots. A modified Douglas-Peucker (mDP) algorithm is developed to approximate irregular obstacles as polygonal obstacles based on the environment image in rough terrains. The resulting mDPderived graph is then modeled using a Maklink graph theory. By applying the iSOA approach, the trajectory of an autonomous robot in the workspace is optimized. Additionally, a Bezier-curve-based smoothing approach is developed to generate safer and smoother trajectories while adhering to curvature constraints. The proposed model is validated through simulated experiments undertaken in various real-world settings, and its performance is compared with state-of-the-art algorithms. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms existing approaches in terms of time cost and path length. (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Shandong University. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).