Real-Time Bug-Like Dynamic Path Planning for an Articulated Vehicle

This article proposes a novel real time bug like algorithm for performing a dynamic smooth path planning scheme for an articulated vehicle under limited and sensory reconstructed surrounding static environment. In the general case, collision avoidance techniques can be performed by altering the articulated steering angle to drive the front and rear parts of the articulated vehicle away from the obstacles. In the presented approach factors such as the real dynamics of the articulated vehicle, the initial and the goal configuration (displacement and orientation), minimum and total travel distance between the current and the goal points, and the geometry of the operational space are taken under consideration to calculate the update on the future way points for the articulated vehicle. In the sequel the produced path planning is iteratively smoothed online by the utilization of Bezier lines before producing the necessary rate of change for the vehicle's articulated angle. The efficiency of the proposed scheme is being evaluated by multiple simulation studies that simulate the movement of the articulated vehicle in open and constrained spaces with the existence of multiple obstacles.