Abstract:
Path planning or motion planning is a fundamental aspect of autonomous vehicle navigation. An
important problem in the design of miniature air vehicles (MAVs) is obstacle avoidance. In this
research, path planning of micro air vehicle (MAV) in static environment is carried out, keeping
in view that MAV has the global knowledge of its environment i.e. terrain map is pre-loaded in
it. Path Planning involves the computation of a collision free path from start to goal point
without considering robot dynamics and kinematic constraints like max velocity, max turn angle
etc. Static environment means that target and obstacles which encountered during flight will be
fixed.
We design an optimal and power efficient path planner for path planning of micro air vehicle in
static environment having multiple obstacles (circles in 2D & spheres in 3D). Optimal path
means a path with minimum path length. Power efficient path means it has minimum number of
turn points on its way towards the goal, as with each waypoint actuator is switched on & off
which consumes the vehicle battery power. We further refined our path in order to get more
optimal results keeping in view that we do not have to compromise on its power efficiency.
